Bruce de Mesquita

The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith is a canonical work on political science that challenges conventional wisdom. The authors begin with a striking assertion: leaders do whatever is necessary to stay in power. They are indifferent to the "national interest" or the welfare of their subjects unless compelled to consider them. Newly updated to reflect...

In the tradition of Why Nations Fail, this book solves one of the great puzzles of history: Why did the West become the most powerful civilisation in the world? Western exceptionalism—the idea that European civilisations are freer, wealthier, and less violent—is a widespread and powerful political idea. It has been a source of peace and prosperity in some societies, and...

Western exceptionalism—the idea that European civilizations are freer, wealthier, and less violent—is a widespread and powerful political idea. It has been a source of peace and prosperity in some societies, and of ethnic cleansing and havoc in others. Yet in The Invention of Power, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita draws on his expertise in political manoeuvring, deal-making, and game theory to...

For eighteen years, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith have been part of a team revolutionising the study of politics by turning conventional wisdom on its head. They start from a single assertion: Leaders do whatever keeps them in power. They don't care about the "national interest" or even their subjects, unless they have to. This clever and accessible...