Rules Of Power

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Niccolò Machiavelli is the ultimate power maven. I've read books on him to learn how to gain power and to defend myself against it. Leslie Gelb's book "Power Rules: How Common Sense can Rescue American Policy" (HarperCollins, 2009) draws extensively on Machiavelli's cunning political treatise, "The Prince."

While editing Gelb’s Big Think interview, I wondered: How powerful would Machiavelli think he was?

Robert Greene's "The 48 Laws of Power" (Viking Press, 1998) also draws on Machiavelli's ruthlessness. Greene's book includes, for instance, laws that teach you how to manipulate people ("Law 12: Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim") and how to be merciless ("Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally"). By mastering the laws however, one can use them for good. For instance, one can learn to avoid manipulation ("Law 12") and to be merciful ("Law 15").

I analyzed Leslie Gelb's Big Think interview to judge how powerful he is according to Robert Greene's schema. That is, how many of Greene's 48 Laws of Power does Gelb follow or flout? For instance, does he abide by "Law 14: Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy"?

Following is my analysis, tongue firmly in cheek.

Law 2: Never Put Too Much Trust in Friends, Learn How to Use Enemies

Gelb hints at the effective use of Law 2 by saying, "President George H. W. Bush, Secretary of State Baker, National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft did a brilliant job of ending the Cold War without war. They helped Gorbachev relinquish his own empire in Eastern Europe and then helped him dismantle the Soviet Union while people in this country [the US] were screaming. [...] [T]hey handled the demise of the Soviet Union by helping them kill themselves off, another brilliant act of diplomacy."