Schwartz introduced himself to McCarthy, an anthropology graduate from Princeton, and Schwartz began probing McCarthy’s interest in being recruited for a contract with an unnamed West African country that involved “weakening tribal and family structures on behalf of a federal government.” Recalling the encounter, McCarthy told me, “I found Schwartz’s proposal intensely disturbing.” Schwartz dismissed McCarthy’s qualms as “naive.” McCarthy says, “It made a lasting impression on me—so much so that I’ve recounted the story many times over the years.”162
