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As the scandal over the United States spying on friends and allies expands beyond German Chancellor Angela Merkel鈥檚 cell phone to perhaps dozens of other countries, one question lingering in the background is: Why spy on friends anyway?

The basic answer, some national intelligence and security experts say, is that relations among countries are essentially based on interests, and no matter how friendly countries may be, their interests are rarely exactly the same.

鈥淲e and Germany don鈥檛 always see eye-to-eye on some important issues,鈥� says James Lewis, director of the Technology and Public Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. 鈥淥ne way to reassure yourself about the direction an ally like Germany is heading on one of those issues is to know what Germany is saying.鈥�

In recent years the US and Germany have had their differences on issues ranging from technology trade with Iran to how to counter Chinese cyberespionage, Mr. Lewis notes. And beyond such areas of disagreement, the US would also have an interest in knowing Germany鈥檚 thinking on issues with global implications where it is playing a central role, he adds.

鈥淕ermany pretty much kept Europe afloat in the [2008] financial crisis,鈥� says Lewis, citing an example of a fast-moving global challenge where the US would have wanted as much information as possible.

鈥淚f Germany had decided to stop supporting Greece, for example, it would have had major global repercussions,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚t would have been important for us to know that.鈥�

It was French World War II statesman Charles de Gaulle who famously quipped that 鈥淣o nation has friends, only interests,鈥� but in the current uproar over National Security Agency spying on American allies, France is taking a different tack.

French President Francois Hollande, saying spying among friends is 鈥渦nacceptable,鈥� on Friday joined Chancellor Merkel in demanding talks with the US aimed at setting new rules for the intelligence-gathering road.

At a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels, Merkel said relations with the US had been 鈥渟everely shaken鈥� by the spying allegations, and said damaged trust would have to be rebuilt through the imposition of new rules governing surveillance activities.

鈥淥bviously words will not be sufficient,鈥� she said.

That the NSA could even consider tapping into 鈥� 鈥渢asking,鈥� in the community鈥檚 jargon 鈥� Merkel鈥檚 cell phone reflects the reality both of how relatively easy it has become to do that, and of how information-gathering and information-storing capabilities have exploded over the past decade.

With intelligence capabilities expanding in ways unimagined just a matter of years ago, 鈥淚t becomes an accretive growth process,鈥� says Allan Friedman, research director of the Center for Technology Innovation at Washington鈥檚 Brookings Institution.

Asked how this process could end up with Merkel鈥檚 cell phone being 鈥渢asked,鈥� Mr. Friedman says, 鈥淭he prevailing thinking is, 鈥榃e got that much [information] this year, what can we do to get more next year?鈥� 鈥�

That 鈥渢hinking鈥� stood out in a classified NSA memo provided to The Guardian newspaper by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, in which the agency asked officials in its 鈥渃ustomer鈥� departments 鈥� the White House, State Department, Pentagon, and others 鈥� to make their 鈥淩olodexes鈥� available to the intelligence agency.

鈥淪uch 鈥楻olodexes鈥� may contain contact information for foreign political or military leaders, to include direct line, fax, residence and cellular numbers,鈥� the memo said.聽 To convince officials of the usefulness of such an exercise, the memo cited the example of one official who turned over a trove of previously uncollected phone numbers.

鈥淚n one recent case, a US official provided NSA with 200 phone numbers to 35 world leaders,鈥� the 2006 memo notes. 鈥淒espite the fact that the majority is probably available via open sources, [NSA intelligence production centers] have noted 43 previously unknown phone numbers.鈥� Those numbers and others culled from officials 鈥渉ave subsequently been tasked,鈥� the memo says.

The spying scandal and presumably the leaked memo in particular prompted President Obama鈥檚 chief assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, Lisa Monaco, to pen an opinion piece in Friday鈥檚 USA Today in which she seeks to reassure American allies that US intelligence gathering has not run amok.

Noting that 鈥淭oday鈥檚 world is highly interconnected, and the flow of large amounts of data is unprecedented,鈥� she says Mr. Obama has ordered a review of surveillance capabilities 鈥� including 鈥渨ith respect to our foreign partners鈥� 鈥� because 鈥淲e want to ensure we are collecting information because we need it and not just because we can.

That point stands out to some national security experts as a clue to deciphering how the US came to intercept the personal cell phones and e-mail accounts of friendly world leaders.

鈥淭his is an important piece of evidence that our technological capabilities have far outstripped our thinking about how we should use those capabilities to best advance US national security,鈥� says Michael Desch, a US foreign policy and international security expert at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Neither Merkel nor former Mexican President Felipe Calderon, whose e-mail account was intercepted, according to leaked documents, could really have been 鈥渟hocked鈥� that their communications were the target of US surveillance, Dr. Desch says. But he adds that the 鈥渄iplomatic fallout鈥� from the surveillance controversy should lead the US to think about whether 鈥渆ven if we have the technical capability to target these leaders, 鈥� it is in our interest to do so.鈥�

But others insist that friends have been spying on friends for a long time 鈥� former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright asserts that the French spied on her when she was the top US diplomat 鈥� and that the practice is unlikely to suddenly stop.

鈥淭here is this notion that it鈥檚 OK to eavesdrop on enemies but not on your friends,鈥� says Brookings鈥檚 Friedman. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 really a polite fiction.鈥� And it鈥檚 not just the US doing it, he adds.

鈥淣o one with clearance would think that members of the EU [European Union] don鈥檛 try to find out about each other by using their intelligence services,鈥� he says.

Another issue in an increasingly globalized world is spying on friends or trading partners to gain economic advantage 鈥� which China is often accused of 鈥� but such aims are not a big part of US information gathering, some experts say.

鈥淭he US really doesn鈥檛 do that, for the most part we鈥檙e looking for the big things,鈥� says CSIS鈥檚 Lewis, 鈥渢hings like: is Germany going to continue supporting Greece, evidence of major corruption involving corporations and officials, or cases related to [WMD] proliferation,鈥� he says.

In Lewis鈥檚 estimation, Europeans aren鈥檛 overly concerned about US economic espionage, in large part because they see the 鈥渉ubris鈥� of Americans who believe they are the best in many domains and don鈥檛 need to spy on others to advance. 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy for the Europeans to believe in American arrogance,鈥� he says.

What may not be so easy for Europeans and others will be to believe that US spying on friends and allies has stopped. Despite what Ms. Monaco of the White House says, Lewis notes that 鈥渋t鈥檚 become so easy to do all this鈥� information gathering and communications surveillance that 鈥渋t鈥檚 hard for people to resist temptation.鈥�

That said, he adds, the means are there to repair relations.

鈥淵ou say, 鈥極K, we鈥檒l back off,鈥� and you mean it,鈥� Lewis says. 鈥淥nce you make a commitment, that鈥檚 significant, and you do what you have to to honor it.鈥�