“Tapping Into Lebanon: The NSA, Edward Snowden, and Eavesdropping on the Middle East”
Irwin A, B, C, Beirut campus/Science 607, Byblos campus
The Departments of Communication Arts, English, Humanities and Social Sciences are hosting a lecture entitled “Tapping Into Lebanon: The NSA, Edward Snowden, and Eavesdropping on the Middle East,” by internationally renowned journalist Mr. James Bamford.
Lebanon is half the world away from Washington DC, but does distance matter in the age of mass surveillance, when most of the world’s communications pass through the U.S. or one of its eavesdropping partners? How does the NSA tap into Lebanon and the rest of the Middle East? What role does Israel play? And is Lebanon vulnerable to the NSA’s newest weapon, cyber warfare? Having written three books on the National Security Agency (NSA), and having spent three days in Moscow last summer interviewing Edward Snowden, the former NSA worker who stole over a million secret documents and is now a fugitive from the U.S. in Moscow, Mr. Bamford will provide fresh and penetrating insights into these crucial questions that impact our lives.
Bamford is a columnist for Foreign Policy Magazine and a U.S. bestselling author, journalist, and documentary producer. He is widely noted for his writing about the United States intelligence agencies, especially the highly secretive National Security Agency. The New York Times has called him “the nation’s premier journalist on the subject of the National Security Agency.” And in a lengthy profile, The New Yorker referred to him as “the NSA’s chief chronicler.” His most recent book, The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA From 9/11 to The Eavesdropping on America, became a New York Times bestseller and was named by The Washington Post as one of “The Best Books of the Year.” It is the third in a trilogy by Mr. Bamford on the NSA, following The Puzzle Palace (1982) and Body of Secrets (2001), also New York Times bestsellers.
The lecture will be taking place in Irwin B and C on the Beirut campus, with video-conferencing available in Science 607 on the Byblos campus.
All are welcome to attend.