In this book, two renowned political scientists show how the rules of politics almost always favour leaders who ignore the national interest and focus on serving their own supporters. For eighteen years, political scientists Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith have been part of a team turning the conventional wisdom of politics on its head. In "The Dictator's Handbook" they reveal their simple, crucial conclusion: leaders will do whatever it takes to stay in power. Simple as it may sound, this perspective uncovers surprising insights, lays bare the logic of politics, and explains nearly everything we need to know about how countries and corporations are run. Examining the successes and failures of autocrats, democrats, and CEOs alike, "The Dictator's Handbook" paints an incomparable and profoundly necessary portrait of how politics - and leadership itself - really works Brilliant publicity for the hardcover: "The Wall Street Journal" called it "lucidly written, shrewdly argued," and "reminiscent of Freakonomics," and the "Financial Times" found it "illuminating and reader-friendly." Long-term academic appeal: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita is beloved by international relations and political science academics, and this is the most successful distillation of his ideas to date.

布鲁斯·布鲁诺·德·梅斯奎塔，纽约大学政治学系Julius Silver讲座教授、亚历山大•汉密尔顿政治经济学研究中心主任和斯坦福大学胡佛研究所高级研究员。他通过设立于纽约的咨询公司长期担任美国政府国家安全事务方面的顾问，也为众多公司提供谈判指导与结果预测方面的咨询服务。梅斯奎塔1971年从密歇根大学获得政治科学博士学位。2001—2002年他担任国际研究学会主席。他是美国艺术与科学院院士、美国对外关系理事会会员以及古根海姆基金会学者。梅斯奎塔迄今出版了16本书，超过120篇论文，并在《纽约时报》、《洛杉矶时报》、《芝加哥论坛报》、《国际先驱论坛报》等报刊上发表过大量文章。

阿拉斯泰尔·史密斯，纽约大学政治学教授。他此前在圣路易斯华盛顿大学和耶鲁大学任教。他从美国罗彻斯特大学获得政治科学博士学位，从牛津大学获得化学学士学位。他从美国国家科学基金会获得过三项研究津贴，2005年他获得卡尔•多伊奇奖（Karl Deutsch Award），该奖每两年一次颁发给40岁以下最出色的国际关系研究学者。1997—1998年他被斯坦福大学胡佛研究所选为国家研究员。