Leiden University Student Repository

Mirfattahi, Mariam (2019)

Once Silence is Broken: The Transparency Discourse of the NSA and CIA

Master thesis | International Relations (MA)

When in 2013 the American public learned about the mass surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency, the US Intelligence Community’s public image was severely damaged. The disclosures of Edward Snowden represented the high-water mark of the problematic relationship between secrecy and privacy in the age of the Internet. With the creation of social media accounts, Privacy and Civil Liberties Offices and ‘Q&A’s about transparency, US intelligence agencies have attempted to regain the public’s trust. The paradox of secret agencies’ increasing online visibility and rhetoric on transparency has been left widely unconceptualised by scholars. This study examines how the US Intelligence Community attempts to re-establish its legitimacy by regaining power over the transparency discourse online. It further contributes to the literature by broadening the securitisation framework with the inclusion of silence in discussing when the secret state starts speaking.

United States

Transparency

US Intelligence Community

Silence

Author

Mirfattahi, Mariam

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Global Conflict in the Modern Era

Supervisors

Cusumano, Eugenio

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en