IN RECENT months revelations about the extent of American snooping—both on its own citizens, and on world leaders—have sparked a global debate. But America is not the only country to operate broad electronic surveillance programmes. Should we be willing to sacrifice our privacy in the interests of security? How will allegations of eavesdropping affect America's relations with its allies?

On Friday November 8th Edward Lucas, The Economist's International editor, will answer your questions on Twitter. Starting at 4pm in London and 11am in New York, the discussion will appear in the space below, and on Twitter via @econdiscuss. If you have a Twitter account you can pose a question now for Mr Lucas to answer later. Just remember to add the hashtag #wdys to make sure your question reaches us.