The latter would end up meeting the emperor.

[meliss]

Hi. It's about the Mossad's so called "the periphery doctrine” of developping a network of secret contacts within countries all over the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Is there any emperor in Africa or it's just an idiom?
"David Kimche, a senior Mossad commander in Africa, explained: “It cost us the same amount of money to send over to Africa an expert on henhouses or an instructor on intelligence gathering. The latter would end up meeting the emperor. The former would end up in a henhouse. It’s obvious what our first choice was."
Source: Rise and Kill First by Ronen Bergman.

 

[5jj]

The writer is just using the word to mean the most powerful person in the country.

 

[Barque]

I agree. I think there may also be a slightly mocking implication that many African countries are dictatorships (or not very advanced societies), with a leader who's effectively an emperor.

 

[Barque]

It's about the Mossad's so called "the periphery doctrine”

By the way you can drop the word "the" before "periphery doctrine" and you need a hyphen in "so-called". It's about the Mossad's so-called "periphery doctrine" of ...

Is there any emperor in Africa or it's just an idiom?

Are there emperors in Africa or is it just an idiom? (There are a couple of kingdoms there, I believe.)

 

[Tarheel]

I believe Haile Selassie was called an emperor.

 

[Amigos4]

I believe Haile Selassie was called an emperor.

Haile Selassie was crowned emperor of Ethiopia on November 2, 1930.