Because of “optics”—a term that I heard constantly—I even needed sign-offs from regional Senior Directors to hold certain meetings. For example, if I hoped to see a critic of the Egyptian government to learn about worsening conditions in the country’s prisons, I first had to check with the Senior Director responsible for the Middle East. My colleagues were sometimes concerned about the “message” that holding meetings with dissidents would send to governments whose cooperation the United States sought.
