THE collision of parallel worlds, the secret and the open, in what analysts call ''strategic shock'' - a surprise attack to usher in a dramatic change in global affairs. But when the surprise comes, it's still just that.

The WikiLeaks disclosures may not have the violence of September 11, Pearl Harbour, or the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand that unleashed the Great War. But the existing world order has irrevocably changed.

The men who boarded commercial airliners with box-cutters were able to use everyday items to change the game. WikiLeaks managed this with a clever website, a flash-drive and, apparently, a CD labelled Lady Gaga to download files.

Nobody saw this coming.

On display is the power of a new actor in global politics - not a government or aid agency, a corporation or terrorist outfit. WikiLeaks has no national identity, yet appeals to patriotism as a reason to expose wrongdoing. Or, more accurately, to deny the secrets of state.