Editor's note: Wang Yingliang is a PhD candidate at Center for American Studies at Fudan University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Recently, a joint investigation by several European media revealed that the Danish intelligence agency had helped the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) monitor important figures in German political circles, including Chancellor Angela Merkel. The scandal of the U.S. engaging in surveillance activities against its allies was first exposed in 2013, and the actual actions may have been earlier.

In an interview with German media participating in the joint investigation, Peer Steinbruck, the federal minister of finance, emphasized, "Politically speaking, I think this is a scandal." He said that although he accepts that Western countries need covert operations, the fact that the Danish authorities are spying on their partners shows that "they are a little bit of their own way."

In 2015, the Danish Defense Intelligence Agency started an internal investigation code-named "Operation Dunhammer" to understand the role of the U.S. National Security Agency in its partnership. A report released after the investigation pointed out that the Danish Defense Intelligence Agency had helped the U.S. defense security agency monitor major politicians in Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, France, and Germany.

According to the report, the Danish intelligence agency also helped the U.S. monitor the Danish ministry of foreign affairs, the ministry of finance, and a Danish weapons manufacturer. The ministry of foreign affairs also cooperated with the National Security Agency to monitor the U.S. government. After discovering such cooperation between the intelligence agencies of the two countries, in 2020, the Danish government forced the entire leadership of the Defense Intelligence Agency to step down. This will obviously result in abnormal political consequences.

Although Denmark and Germany belong to the NATO camp, the U.S. is the core leading force of NATO. However, the U.S. government does not fully trust its allies. NATO, especially Germany and France, do not fully follow U.S. strategic and geopolitical interests on a series of important issues. The inside of NATO and the inside of the EU are not monolithic. U.S. intelligence agencies can often use contradictions to win over or threaten one actor to serve their intelligence activities. This has, in fact, become a "wedge strategy," which is conducive to the differentiation of Europe.

From the PRISM incident in 2013 to the subsequent scandals in the intelligence community, the U.S. has shown that it is in a position to manipulate behind the scenes. Once the secret operation of the security department is exposed, it will affect the cooperation between the U.S. and Europe, and even lead to the downfall of the governments of certain countries, resulting in certain political consequences.

The importance of security and secret power as the grasping hand of American hegemony is self-evident. The U.S. is clearly addicted to using this power. From this incident, one can see that, first, there is no real political trust between the U.S. and its allies. The American government has always been chanting "cooperation" while taking "secret actions" extensively. This is the political trust between allies. It is a kind of division and disintegration, which is not conducive to unity within Europe.

Second, the lack of supervision of U.S. intelligence agencies has become an obstacle to cooperation between countries. The U.S. intelligence supervision mechanisms include executive supervision led by the president, legislative supervision by Congress, judicial supervision by courts, and internal supervision by intelligence agencies. But the results show that the national security agency has become a force out of control, which may create a "dilemma" for U.S. diplomacy.

Intelligence power was originally an extension of diplomacy. If the U.S. regards it as the main force of diplomacy, it can be said that the out-of-control national security apparatus will accelerate the decline of U.S. hegemony and undermine its legitimateness.

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