Letter: Power is not qualification

Friday, January 23, 2009

I note that John Negroponte is commencing as lecturer here. We all accept as a fact of life that leaders and high officials in democracies will deceive their people in the furtherance or defense of their policies or actions — as, e.g., Tony Blair in the selling of the Iraq invasion (the story to be “fixed,” as the Downing Street Memo put it) or in the hiding of Honduras’ civil rights record and the subversion of democracy in a neighboring country (Negroponte’s charge). Still, I wonder if such patriotic or well rewarded liars should be given a lecture platform at an institute of higher learning. Seems like a bad fit, somehow.

Ramsay MacMullen

New Haven

Jan. 22

The writer is the Dunham Professor Emeritus of History.

None 3 years, 4 months ago

What surprises me is that you believe the general public is sufficiently informed to hold a meaningful opinion, or that it can be trusted to act in its own best interest.

The depth and breadth of information available to intelligence communities theoretically far exceed the scope of information available to the public. Even if full disclosure were possible, the public can't be bothered to educate itself on foreign policy because it's so busy turning the hamster wheel of GDP.

Power is not qualification, but unique experience enables unique perspective. I do not completely disagree with your sentiment, but I'm willing to admit I don't know enough to judge.

None 3 years, 4 months ago

The Negroponte appointment illustrates the problem with the entire Grand Strategy program. The point of this program seems to be to convince Yalies that if they rub elbows with powerful people (and learn some schoolboy history, so they can sprinkle allusions into conversations) then they are going to run the world. So the criterion for hiring people to teach in the program is only whether the individual is or was powerful, or knows the powerful. Some such people will have very unsavory pasts, and Grand Strategy will be bringing to campus people who should really be in prison.

One important irony: Negroponte's Latin American efforts included abusing the freedoms of professors and teachers. So now he is coming to an institution dedicated to free inquirty?

None 3 years, 4 months ago

Thank you, Professor MacMullen! Well said.

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Letter: Power is not qualification