How far governments should go in using modern technology to spy on other states, even upon those which they regard as close Allies, a subject of huge contemporary interest,  was the topic of Electronic  Eavesdropping and Diplomacy,  a lecture  by Charles Crawford, a former senior British diplomat at the Danube Institute on Tuesday 5th November.

Crawford who was British Ambassador to Poland from 2003-2007 argued that technical advances in surveillance methods enabled governments to establish patterns of human behavior which were a vital tool in combatting international  terrorism.  

It was clear that those governments and politicians which had criticized the US government for spying on the political leaders of friendly states were themselves using such methods.

Moreover while counter measures might be devised to frustrate surveillance, it was unlikely that these would be wholly successful, or that governments would cease to use methods that were necessary to protect public safety.