Revealing State Secrets: An Analysis of the Tension Between National Security and Government Transparency

Throughout world history, espionage has served as a key way to gather evidence and forge strategies. Today, espionage serves as a way to elicit knowledge that allows states to both gain superiority over adversaries and allies and also safeguard their own information from the prying hands of others. But, states often engage in espionage activities while deriding similar acts of others, producing an interesting contradiction. As a result, many states have created various espionage statutes to define the acts and their subsequent consequences.

In a government for the people, states must weigh their commitment to transparency and democratic ideals against their commitment to national security and protecting their secrets. One common defense employed by Canada is the public interest defense. While the United States does not employ such a defense, these two democratic nations provide an interesting comparison as to the practicality and efficacy of such a defense.