185. The Secret Spy Network: How Snowden Nearly Destroyed Everything (Ep 3)
Summary
Hosts David McCloskey and Gordon Carrera, with guest Richard Kabbage, examine the Five Eyes alliance’s evolution from the post-Cold War era through the Snowden leaks. They discuss the alliance’s pivot to counter-terrorism after 9/11, highlighting tensions over CIA rendition programs and the Maher Arar case. The episode also analyzes how Snowden’s disclosures exposed global surveillance capabilities and strained partner relations, followed by emerging disagreements over Chinese technology like Huawei.
Topics discussed
Intro, sponsors, and post-Cold War drift
1990s purpose loss and budget disparities
Post-9/11 tensions and rendition programs
Binyam Mohammed and unilateral ops rules
The Maher Arar case and Canadian-US friction
Iraq War intelligence failures and echo chambers
Sponsors: Cancer Research, Wise, Carvana
Edward Snowden leaks and Five Eyes crisis
SIGINT capabilities and global infrastructure
Public trust and spying on citizens claims
Huawei 5G ban and China threat perception
US pressure on UK and alliance future
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