Dear Editors,
While I do not disagree with the policy suggestions in your column in the Citizen of Nov 1, you make several false statements about my “case.”
1. I disclosed in 2007 that Monitor had paid for my trip to Libya. The Mother Jones article you cite was false reporting and the editor of the New Republic corrected it and apologized to me and posted the clarification on their web site. Thus it is not true that I decided not to disclose a potential conflict of interest.
2. Moreover, my article in The New Republic referred to Qaddafi as a domineering autocrat with little respect for human rights. That hardly enhanced his image.
3. While Monitor had a later contract to enhance the profile of Libya, I was contracted to discuss potential reforms, and I discussed human rights during my visit. Like my colleague Robert Putnam, I turned down an invitation to return to Libya for an event under the contract you describe that was designed to enhance Libya’s profile.
Joseph Nye
Distinguished Service Professor
Harvard Kennedy School