The Snowden Effect on Transatlantic Relations

When the NSA surveillance scandal became public, it eroded transatlantic trust, write Alexandra Brzozowski and Mitchell Wilkinson.

This blog post was written for the course "Current Issues in Global and EU Affairs", which took place from February 12-April 30, 2018.

Edward Snowden in 2013
Image credit: Wikimedia user McZusatz

Snowden’s disclosures revealed that the NSA together with partner intelligence agencies, in seemingly limitless capacity, monitored and stored communications of almost all states. Reports disclosed it ‘bugged offices, accessed internal computer networks, obtained documents and emails, and listened in on phone calls’. Striking is, that while inside the US it was clear that some legal institutional limits are in place−as few as they may seem− there are virtually no restrictions on US intelligence activities abroad. However, the more daunting truth for leaders worldwide was that the US spied on other governments and did not distinguish between friend and foe.

For transatlantic relations, the situation ignited a political drawback.

The broad extent of espionage, including interception of personal communications of friendly heads of state and government, as well as the handling of criticism caused consternation. Senior European officials, in response to revelations that various EU offices had also been targeted, have not been able to invoke clear and concise answers from US colleagues. President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, demanded for immediate clarification from Washington, but responsible officials refused to comment. Many European leaders, however, tried to justify the surveillance practices as they often happened in coordination with their national intelligence agencies. At first, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also defended them, describing the US as ‘truest ally throughout the decades’, but as it became clearer that even her private phone had been tapped, she concluded that ‘spying among friends is not acceptable.’

The targeted espionage had significantly damaged the trust needed for close and constructive political cooperation with the US. Those on the European side of the Atlantic, who have historically questioned US motivations, have had their suspicions confirmed, and it created a political environment where it was increasingly difficult for Transatlanticists to justify their positions to a European public that grew widely suspicious. On the other, European intelligence services have always cooperated very closely with the US, operating under the assumption that security interests were broadly aligned. In the aftermath, this state of cooperation could hardly be maintained or justified to the public. In Europe, there seems to be a broad consensus that US intelligence activities violated basic civil liberties.

The scandal proved to play an important role in shaping the narrative around data privacy between the allies on both sides of the Atlantic. Snowden's disclosures ignited political turmoil in the US and abroad and served as a catalyst for an international conversation over the balance between privacy rights and national security.