Power Rules - by Leslie H Gelb (Paperback)

About the Book

Fluent, well-timed, provocative. . . . Filled with gritty, shrewd, specific advice on foreign policy ends and means. . . . Gelb s plea for greater strategic thinking is absolutely right and necessary. The New York Times Book Review

Few Americans know the inner world of American foreign policy its feuds, follies, and fashions as well as Leslie H. Gelb. . . . Power Rules builds on that lifetime of experience with power and is a witty and acerbic primer. The New York Times

Power Rules is the provocative account of how to think about and use America s power in the world, from Pulitzer Prize winner Leslie H. Gelb, one of the nation s leading foreign policy minds and practitioners. "

Book Synopsis

"Fluent, well-timed, provocative. . . . Filled with gritty, shrewd, specific advice on foreign policy ends and means. . . . Gelb's plea for greater strategic thinking is absolutely right and necessary." -- The New York Times Book Review

"Few Americans know the inner world of American foreign policy--its feuds, follies, and fashions--as well as Leslie H. Gelb. . . . Power Rules builds on that lifetime of experience with power and is a witty and acerbic primer." -- The New York Times

Power Rules is the provocative account of how to think about and use America's power in the world, from Pulitzer Prize winner Leslie H. Gelb, one of the nation's leading foreign policy minds and practitioners.

From the Back Cover

Inspired by Machiavelli's classic The Prince, Leslie H. Gelb offers illuminating guidelines on how American power actually works and should be wielded in today's tumultuous world. Writing with the perspective of four decades of extraordinary access and influence in government, think tanks, and journalism, Gelb provides an incisive look at the major U.S. foreign-policy triumphs and tragedies of the past half century, and offers practical rules on how to effectively exercise power today. Power Rules is an impassioned challenge to both liberals and conservatives and a plea to reclaim the true meaning of power and the essential role of common sense in solving global problems.

Review Quotes

"Power Rules provides a much-needed antidote to the ideological fevers that have ravaged American statecraft in recent years. Leslie Gelb's reflections on power, its effective use, and its limitations are shrewd, trenchant, and refreshingly devoid of either cant or partisanship." - Andrew Bacevich
"Les Gelb, one of America's most distinguished practitioner-observers of foreign policy, brilliantly explains how a series of administrations weakened our nation's security, and shows how we can reverse this trend. . . . Power Rules is an indispensable book for the new era." - Richard Holbrooke
"Les Gelb tells it like it is: making US foreign policy and using American power are common sense, not rocket science. Incisive and thoroughly compelling, Power Rules is rich in colorful stories as well as in sound advice for our president and our people." - Brent Scowcroft
"Leslie Gelb has as much experience in foreign policy as anyone alive. Unlike most writers in this field, he isn't afraid to use plain language and say what he means. And he doesn't mind making powerful enemies." - George Packer
"This book is a must-read not just for President Obama, but for anyone who wants to understand how the new administration can improve its odds of strategic success." - Jacob Weisberg
"Compared to the piles of books being churned out about America's place in the world, Power Rules belongs in the top tier. Gelb intended this book as a long letter to President Obama; I fervently hope that the intended recipient reads it carefully." - The National Interest
"Power Rules gets the new rules right. . . . Gelb skillfully weaves the current tapestry of global events into the history of what brought us here." - BusinessWeek
"Lively. . . . Power Rules is worth the read. . . . Gelb's career embodies big and powerful Washington, with all its turf battles, crises, and war stories." - The Washington Post
"A smart and lively new book." - Fareed Zakaria, The Washington Post
"An excellent primer for those seeking a common-sense approach to foreign policy. . . . Gelb's informative and well-crafted analysis is filled with rules for wielding power and goals worth striving for globally." - The Boston Globe
"Power Rules gets the new rules right. . . . Gelb skillfully weaves the current tapestry of global events into the history of what brought us here. Yet what I found most interesting in the book was Gelb's steady description of how power in the world has changed fundamentally since Machiavelli." - BusinessWeek
"Fluent, well-timed, provocative. . . . Gelb's ruminations are welcome and stimulating. . . . Filled with gritty, shrewd, specific advice on foreign policy ends and means that will be especially useful for a new president and secretary of state without deep experience dealing with the world. . . . Gelb's plea for greater strategic thinking is absolutely right and necessary." - Michael Beschloss, The New York Times Book Review
"Fluent, well-timed, provocative. . . . Gelb's ruminations are welcome and stimulating. . . . Filled with gritty, shrewd, specific advice on foreign policy ends and means that will be especially useful for a new president and secretary of state without deep experience dealing with the world." - Michael Beschloss, The New York Times Book Review
"Gelb has raised an essential question: Will Obama know how, and whether, to react if diplomacy fails? . . . Gelb takes a defiant step away from gimmicks and grand theories, toward a re-examination of the most basic and eternal tool in the game of nations." - Joe Klein, Time
"A thoughtful, comprehensive, and engaging examination. . . . Gelb's bulleted rules and clear advice to President Obama distill his moderate strategic thinking on the future of America. It is a vision of a pragmatic but responsible global U.S. presence that eshews partisan politics and should find favor in the coming political clime." - Publishers Weekly (Starred Review/Pick of the Week)
"Few Americans know the inner world of American foreign policy--its feuds, follies, and fashions--as well as Leslie H. Gelb. . . . Power Rules builds on that lifetime of experience with power and is a witty and acerbic primer." - Michael Ignatieff, The New York Times
"Gelb has raised an essential question: Will Obama know how, and whether, to react if diplomacy fails? . . . Gelb takes a defiant step away from gimmicks and grand theories, toward a re-examination of the most basic and eternal tool in the game of nations. . . . Gelb is at his best describing the three 'demons' that render America's politicians congenitally foolish and unable to project power creatively--our tendency to turn principles into dogma, domestic political pressures, and the delusion that America can do anything." - Joe Klein, Time