The ongoing publication by WikiLeaks of more than 250,000 secret or confidential U.S. diplomatic cables has brought howls of criticism and calls for criminal investigations from governments across the world.

Private diplomatic conversations, they say, should remain secret.

But too often, too much is kept hidden by governments who are working on the people’s behalf at the people’s expense.


The WikiLeaks phenomenon can be seen as a natural reaction to the self-interested clampdown of government information by bureaucrats everywhere.”

– Kyiv Post.

The balance has tipped towards secrecy in the world and, in that context, the WikiLeaks phenomenon can be seen as a natural reaction to the self-interested clampdown of government information by bureaucrats everywhere.

Sometimes, people just have a basic right to know with whom their representatives are meeting, what is being discussed and the conclusions being drawn.

Even though our friends in government might disagree, we think Ukraine is much better off knowing what has been released about the nation thus far in documents obtained by WikiLeaks whistleblowers.

It is, unfortunate, that WikiLeaks took first aim at the United States, one of the most open nations in the world.

We hope that just as much intensity goes into uncovering the secrets in authoritarian regimes such as Russia, North Korea and China, as well as in closed governments, such as Ukraine’s.

America will easily withstand the sometimes embarrassing disclosures and may even become stronger because of it. In most cases, the dispatches show that diplomats were genuinely trying to act in the best interests of the United States and the countries in which they were working.

The same cannot be said for many governments across the world.

Ukrainians, for instance, can now decide whether or not to believe former U.S. Ambassador William Taylor’s account of his Dec. 8, 2008, meeting with RosUkrEnergo’s gas-trading billionaire Dmytro Firtash, or whether Firtash’s denials have greater credibility.

All Ukrainians and those interested in the nation should be alarmed at Firtash’s remarks in which he allegedly admitted needing permission from reputed Russian crime boss Semyon Mogilevich to do business in Ukraine during the lawless 1990s.

For years, many people have suspected that Mogilevich played a role in RosUkrEnergo, the gas-trading intermediary whose very existence seems to run counter to the nation’s financial interests and need for transparent, accountable government.

Now, more than a year after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin himself criticized RosUkrEnergo as providing slush funds for politicians, the public learns that the No. 2 person in the Moscow Embassy sees Mogilevich – an indicted fugitive on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List – as involved with RosUkrEnergo.


While government must guard legitimate secrets and sources, much of diplomacy is not about cloak-and-dagger spying. It is about building relationships and encouraging democratic values, economic prosperity and human rights.

– Kyiv Post.

There are many other astounding revelations that confirm suspicions, such as Firtash’s reputed statement to Taylor that ex-Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko ordered the murder of a parliamentarian in 1996 over a business dispute.

Still, 14 years later, no one’s been charged with ordering the crime as Lazarenko remains imprisoned on a money-laundering conviction in the United States.

There are many other revelations to come. Some will be titillating, others boring. The conclusions drawn in them come from fallible human beings who, for the most part, are simply trying their best to understand the country in which they are operating.

While government must guard legitimate secrets and sources, much of diplomacy is not about cloak-and-dagger spying. It is about building relationships and encouraging democratic values, economic prosperity and human rights.

If these WikiLeaks disclosures prompt governments to tighten secrecy and clamp down on security, that would be the wrong lesson and the wrong response.

Diplomats would then operate in isolation from each other, not knowing what conclusions their counterparts are drawing in other places. The public would not be as well-informed as they are today because of WikiLeaks.

Especially in Ukraine, whose governments have made opaqueness and corruption part of the standard way of doing business, people deserve to know who is running the nation – both in government and in the economy.

This will inevitably help Ukrainians make better choices for themselves and for their nation.

In the end, no matter how undesirable the release is from the perspective of U.S. diplomats who thought they were making candid but confidential assessments, these cables have intensified public interest in international relations. This is a good thing by itself.

Moreover, the WikiLeaks phenomenon can contribute to the international mission that the United States has championed – the campaign for greater freedom and transparency.

We can only hope that diplomats of all countries will keep doing their jobs and continue to call it as they see it – no matter who sees their conclusions.

Such crucial information is especially vital for Ukrainians, who aren’t getting much help from their own government or business leaders in understanding how their country is really run.