Link of the Day: Guess who believed in open diplomacy?: The President of the United States, of all people! But it was Woodrow Wilson, almost a century ago. Read a fascinating article on the historical need for Wikileaks, by Lawrence Davidson, of the Department of History, West Chester University, Pennsylvania

(“Can one imagine circumstances in which diplomatic interaction necessities secrecy? I am sure one can. However, those circumstances should be exceptional. They should not constitute the norm. And, there should be clear criteria as to what constitutes such circumstances. Arriving at those criteria should be part of a widespread public debate over a seminal right–the right to know what your government is doing in your name. At this point you might ask, what widespread public debate? Well, the one that supporters of Julian Assange and Wikileaks are trying desperately to begin.”)