Secretary Robert Gates

Popes, in the past, were given the moniker of "The Great" if they were particularly transformative, powerful, prolific, or just plain old popular. There really isn't a secular version of that title, particularly in politics. We don't refer to George Washington "the Great" and our military leaders, when they reach those levels, are already Generals.

I'd like to go on record now and say, if there were a civilian leader deserving of that title, Defense Secretary Robert Gates would be he (him?). His tenure as Sec Def, which is of course ongoing and could, hypothetically, still implode, has been marked by some of the best decisions I've seen. From base closure and realignment to funding of new weapons systems and killing others, he's navigated the political waters of the most politicized (ironically "apolitical") piece of the American behemoth in a way that constantly impresses and ALWAYS puts politicians on guard. His championing of repealing Don't Ask/Don't Tell has been HUGE in moving the ball forward and he continues to work to make America a more equal place.

The Wikileaks issue, which has driven plenty to gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair, has been handled relatively well by the Administration, Secretary of State and now, again, Robert Gates throws his two cents in. His analysis is spot on and his understanding of how international relations works is ridiculously realistic and Realist. Instead of calling for the head of Assange (sp?) he simply admits what is true about about foreign policy--that America is powerful and THAT is why people talk to us.

But let me – let me just offer some perspective as somebody who’s been at this a long time. Every other government in the world knows the United States government leaks like a sieve, and it has for a long time. And I dragged this up the other day when I was looking at some of these prospective releases. And this is a quote from John Adams: “How can a government go on, publishing all of their negotiations with foreign nations, I know not. To me, it appears as dangerous and pernicious as it is novel.”

When we went to real congressional oversight of intelligence in the mid-’70s, there was a broad view that no other foreign intelligence service would ever share information with us again if we were going to share it all with the Congress. Those fears all proved unfounded.

Now, I’ve heard the impact of these releases on our foreign policy described as a meltdown, as a game-changer, and so on. I think – I think those descriptions are fairly significantly overwrought. The fact is, governments deal with the United States because it’s in their interest, not because they like us, not because they trust us, and not because they believe we can keep secrets.

Many governments – some governments deal with us because they fear us, some because they respect us, most because they need us. We are still essentially, as has been said before, the indispensable nation. So other nations will continue to deal with us. They will continue to work with us. We will continue to share sensitive information with one another. Is this embarrassing? Yes. Is it awkward? Yes. Consequences for U.S. foreign policy? I think fairly modest.