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{
  "authors": [
    "Rachel Kleinfeld"
  ],
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    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
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Source: Getty

In The Media

Snowden’s Damage To US-Russian Relations

An adequate balance needs to be struck between security needs and governmental transparency in the United States.

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By Rachel Kleinfeld
Published on Jun 25, 2013
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Democracy, Conflict, and Governance

The Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program is a leading source of independent policy research, writing, and outreach on global democracy, conflict, and governance. It analyzes and seeks to improve international efforts to reduce democratic backsliding, mitigate conflict and violence, overcome political polarization, promote gender equality, and advance pro-democratic uses of new technologies.

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Source: Huffington Post

In an interview with HuffPost Live, Carnegie's Rachel Kleinfeld argued that the revelations about U.S. surveillance programs give countries like China and Russia an opportunity to accuse the United States of double standards and are likely to undermine U.S. objections to Russia's and China's attempts to impose greater national control over the Internet. 

Kleinfeld suggested that the leaks also highlight the problem of overclassification of U.S. government documents, which has resulted in an ever-increasing number of U.S. citizens with top level security clearance. She further argued that from a national security standpoint, excessive government secrecy can ultimately undermine the government's objectives by creating a citizen backlash. According to Kleinfeld, an adequate balance needs to be struck between security needs and governmental transparency. 

About the Author

Rachel Kleinfeld

Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program

Rachel Kleinfeld is a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, where she focuses on issues of rule of law, security, and governance in democracies experiencing polarization, violence, and other governance problems.

    Recent Work

  • Paper
    How to Engage with New Media: A Strategic Guide for Nonprofit Organizations

      Renée DiResta, Rachel Kleinfeld, Margot Treadwell

  • Other
    Political Violence in the U.S.

      Political Violence Researchers, Rachel Kleinfeld, ed., Dalya Berkowitz, ed.

Rachel Kleinfeld
Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Rachel Kleinfeld
Political ReformDemocracySecurityForeign PolicyNorth AmericaUnited States

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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