Machiavelli on Powers of NSA and Defense Spending - Research Paper Example

?Machiavelli on Powers of NSA and Defense Spending Introduction Operating under the jurisdiction of the department of defence, theNational Security Agency is the country’s largest intelligence organ. In terms of both budget and personnel, NSA is the largest American intelligence organization. The main objective of the organization is to keep the country safe from external aggressions. The organization carries out extensive global monitoring with the aim of detecting and intercepting potential security threats to the country (Aid, 2009). On July 2013, the house of representative passed the defence-spending bill allocating the organization $ 598.3 billion in the collection and monitoring of millions of American phone conversation. The growing security concerns in the country are arguable and justifiably especially following the events of 9/11. The relativity of the organization’s spending is admissible by the dictates of such iconic think tanks as the Italian Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli as the discussion below portrays. Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an early Italian politician, philosopher, and diplomat. Machiavelli influenced modern day politics with most historians acknowledging his ideas as the basis for contemporary politics. Among his major contributions was the political ethics which is a concept that explains the conduct of politicians and the policies they enact. The philosopher developed a concept known as Machiavellianism which is a negative term referring to unscrupulous politicians. Such politicians foster their own ambitions while disregarding the desires of the electorate who Machiavelli explains wield the power owing to their fundamental role of electing the leaders. Democracy is a form of governance through which the population elects representatives who rule on their behalf. In a democratic society, the electorate constitutes a fundamental piece of the society and plays an integral role in the governance of the society. The political ideology arises from the social contract theory which posits that since not everyone can rule, the society elects few people with desirable qualities to lead them for a particular period. Within the period, the leaders make decisions through policies. However, in doing so, the leaders must safeguard the desires of the people. This implies that the leaders must maintain an interactive relationship with the electorate in order to determine the wishes of the people. The policies the leaders formulate and enact must represent the desires of the people and uphold humanity. In his work, The Prince, Machiavelli investigates the creation of democratic institutions and the conduct of politicians at the time (Althusser & Matheron, 2000). As a philosopher, Machiavelli explains that elected leaders, unlike in dynasties, must possess desirable qualities and sustain their conduct. In doing so, political leaders must exhibit humility and understanding of the issues facing their electorate. By considering such, the policies the leaders formulate and enact will reflect the desires of the people (Cunningham, Rogers & United States, 2005). Constant consultation between the electorate and the leadership is essential in the representation process as the leaders must always enact policies that uphold the freedoms of the people. Among the issues that Machiavelli contends that is essential in the development of free and fair societies is security. The leaders must sustain the security of their societies. Machiavelli explains that the security of the society is priceless and important to the electorate. The contract between the society and the leaders as explained in the social contract theory centers on creation of safe and secure societies. A country must employ its every resources in ensuring that its boarders are safe and free from foreign interference. Machiavelli’s doctrines and philosophies can help explain some of if his possible thoughts on the structure of modern society and the functions and powers of some of the state agencies. As explained earlier, the National security Agency is the greatest security agency spending more than five hundred billion dollars on the surveillance of communication alone. Among the functions of the NSA are collection and decoding global data for foreign surveillance and monitoring the activities of targeted individuals (Viroli, 1998). To do this, the agency employs various tactics including the use of street cameras, tapping telephone conversations, and intercepting electronic mails among other modes of communication among the people. The agency operates in secrecy and with utmost superiority over other state security organs. The organization often undertakes most of their projects in clandestine methods thus leaving no traceable tracks. They cover their tracks but are equally efficient in undertaking their mandate (Mcavoy, 2010). With the largest budget of all the country’s security organs, the NSA employs the best brains in the country before taking them for vigorous training in order to make the best human resource from them. Additionally, the body also has the best technology and is mandated with safeguarding government information. The National Security Agency protects the government’s communication channels. The security agency employs its huge financial budget on the employment of both of the best human resource and technology in safeguarding the country. Coupled with the authority the agency enjoys, NSA employs various methods in ensuring that they identify potential security threats and avert such. In doing this, the agency employs various techniques including the monitoring of all the communication channels both in the country and across the world (Dunn & Harris, 1997). Machiavelli would criticize the security agency in various ways. Among the features he would laud is the country’s attempt to improve the safety of the population. The United States is the greatest economy in the world. Additionally, the country has various potential enemies from different regions. After the bombing of the twin towers on 9/11, the population became scared. Terrorists use extreme both force and unorthodox means to weaken a government. By terrorizing the population, terrorists seek to portray the government as weak and unable to protect its citizens. From such events as the bombing, the government draws fundamental lessons and promises to prevent similar loss of lives in future. This explains the immense power the agency currently enjoys. The agency operates in secrecy and has some of the best resources in the world. With the largest budget approved by the house of representative, the agency thus represents the will of the people and seeks to make the nation safer. As a creation of the legislature, NSA upholds the demands of the democratically elected government and is therefore a creation of the people by extrapolation. The agency obtains its funding from the treasury. In July 2013, the House of Representatives approved the budget for the agency and permitted the agency to employ every feature including the monitoring of the citizen’s communication by tapping their mobile phone conversations and emails among others (Machiavel & Gilbert, 1989). Machiavelli believed in the power of the people, he also believed that the government should serve the people by upholding the demands of the people. The house of representative consists of elected leaders who make laws on behalf of the people. The decision to increase the funding for the agency was a move meant to improve the efficiency of the agency. The house obtains the approval of the people through periodic elections. The house approves the actions of the agency including permitting the agency to monitor the people’s communication. In criticizing this, Machiavelli would commend the government for striving to improve the security of the population and deciding to invest billions of dollars in security the society. The agency has intercepted millions of threats thus improving the safety of the people and their investments. However, the improved surveillance in the country has sparked several outcries since such actions limit the liberties the people enjoy. Machiavelli believed in the liberation of the people from any form of oppressions. Freedom is a fundamental human right. The installation of the street cameras and the subsequent monitoring of the basic communication channels limit such freedoms. The use of street cameras became essential in curbing violence in the streets as they provide the police with appropriate evidence to every crime. However, the police use the devises to monitor and determine culprits. Selecting a guilty character from the rest of the public is a difficult process that requires behavioral experts who may not also guarantee that the officers would pick a guilty character from the rest of the population. The cameras coupled with the surveillance of the communication networks limit the people’s liberties in the country. The freedom to monitor people’s communication channels is a violation of human rights. Machiavelli on the other hand sought to safeguard the liberties of the people and he would not therefore support such actions. The national security agency enjoys immense power and resources. The agency is invisible to most of people in the society. People interact with friends and collogues oblivious of the agency. Additionally, the agency has unparalleled access to every file with any of the many other security agencies in the country. The power of the NSA explains the government attempts to secure the society. The society has changed. Machiavelli lived in an early society in which people lacked the technological features in the modern society. This implies that the security threats in the modern society differ from those in the past. The new society requires specific measures to help curb the dynamic and more sophisticated types of threats. This implies that Machiavelli’s criticism of the agency would remain contextual to the developments in the society and the fact that the threats the united states faces have equally changed and therefore required an advanced surveillance system such as the one employed by the NSA today. Ethical operations on the other hand demand that the agency maintains some respect to other authorities. The agency has autonomy over Americans since it is American, created by the government to make the American society safer. In its operations, the agency expands its territory and supersedes several other agencies including the security parameters in other countries. The wave of accusations by several governments in Europe has portrayed the unethical operations of the agency. Apparently, NSA monitored the communication channels of German, French and English leaders an accusation that sparked diplomatic row among the countries. Machiavelli would object to this, this portrays that the agency does not uphold the discretion of the jobs. Furthermore, the fact that the agency monitors the communication of other leaders is a poor operational ethics thus requires appropriate address. The agency’s spending is subject to the budgetary allocations and approval by the House of Representatives. The country learned to allocate more money to state security. The government has installed various security features in the country. The installation of the street cameras has served various police departments and has facilitated the arrest of criminals. The agency uses such in monitoring the activities and movements of targeted individuals in the country. This implies that the agency identifies a targeted culprit before instituting a dedicated monitoring mechanism. The house of representatives has increased the budgetary allocation to security owing to its importance in the society. The increment to the allocation to such state agencies as the NSA is consequential following the rise in terrorist threats in the country. They therefore depict the government’s dedication in securing the society. The agency’s big budget is a portrayal of the government’s commitment to ensuring security in the country. The government seeks to secure the society from both internal and external aggression. Machiavelli respected human values key among which required the deployment of appropriate security features. The United States has potential enemies from various countries. After the terrorist attack that reeled the country’s economy, government renewed its commitment to securing the society thus the hefty budgetary allocations to security apparatus in the country. In retrospect, the national security agency is the largest security organization in the United States. The agency has a large budget especially following the house or representation’s decision to increase the agency’s funding. Besides operating in privacy, the agency employs particular operational features that have caused diplomatic rows and are continuous disregard to human liberties in the country. Machiavelli would criticize such by encouraging regard to human rights. The agency operates in utter disregard to humanity and the basic human liberties. However, owing to the social changes, Machiavelli would laud he government attempt to improve the security of the country. References Aid, M. M. (2009). The secret sentry: The untold history of the National Security Agency. New York [etc.: Bloomsbury Press. Althusser, L., & Matheron, F. (2000). Machiavelli and us. London [u.a.: Verso. Cunningham, B., Rogers, R., & United States. (2005). Network security evaluation using the NSA IEM. Rockland, Mass: Syngress Pub. Dunn, J., & Harris, I. E. (1997). Machiavelli. Cheltenham: E. Elgar. Machiavel, ., & Gilbert, A. H. (1989). The chief works and others. Durham, N.C: Duke University Press. Machiavelli, N., Skinner, Q., & Price, R. (1988). Machiavelli: The prince. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mcavoy, N. (2010). Coded messages: How the nsa and the cia hoodwink congress and the people. New York: Algora Pub. Viroli, M. (1998). Machiavelli. New York: Oxford University Press. Read More