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The transit hotel in Moscow’s Shermetyevo airport has probably been given more global publicity in the past week than it all of its history, for the simple reason that it has hosted and - for all we know - may still be accommodating one, Edward Snowden, who doesn’t belong there, has difficulty in getting out, and is beyond legal challenge. In the past, the surveillance techniques of countries like the former USSR, China and even South Africa were the stuff of critical observation, political intrigue and even Hollywood movies. But recent revelations of the way in which the USA and the United Kingdom spy on their own and foreign nationals, particularly via the internet, has surprised and even angered political leaders in other nations who claim to have been in the dark about the extent and intrusive nature of such activity.