The Modern Prince: What Leaders Need to Know Now [Hardcover]

Professor Carnes Lord (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

The role of leaders is never more crucial than during times of war. The ability to inspire confidence and communicate resolution is essential to the national interest. The requirements of leadership are not limited to military affairs: citizens look to leaders to guide the economy, protect the laws and safeguard national values. Leadership has never been simple, but it is even more complicated in the age of mass democracy: globalization, the power of the media and the constraints of bureaucracy are among the many challenges facing leaders at the beginning of the 21st century. What do leaders need to know in order to be effective? Carnes Lord - an eminent political scientist who has held a number of high-level positions in the United States government - here offers witty and trenchant counsel to both leaders and the citizens who elect them. Exploring such issues as leadership in war and crises, diplomacy, the use of secret intelligence, the role of political advisors and the media, Lord enumerates the major challenges confronting modern leaders and offers practical advice on how leaders can deal with them effectively.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The reader will leave this profound book . . . with a fuller sense of the promise and risks of politics." -- Brian C. Anderson, New York Sun

. . . . Lord's understanding. . . . of government. . . . is profound. . . . As a handbook for leaders it deserves to become an instant classic. -- Brian M. Carney, Wall Street Journal

From the Back Cover

"Our politics will be a lot healthier if our politicians can be persuaded to read Carnes Lord's engaging and penetrating book. And even if the politicians don't take Lord to heart, we should, so we can learn how to select better leaders."-William Kristol, editor, The Weekly Standard

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 2nd edition (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300100078
• ISBN-13: 978-0300100075
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,156,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In theory people rule, in practice leaders rule, October 3, 2003

By 

Wayne C. Lusvardi (Pasadena, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Modern Prince: What Leaders Need to Know Now (Hardcover)

What if someone was able to go back into The Prince, the timeless book of advice to politicians written in 1500's about the rule of the Medici family in Florence, Italy, and insert examples of modern day leaders and nations for the city-states, princes, and rulers described by Niccolo Machiavelli? As author Carnes Lords writes in the beginning of his book: 'The theory of democracy tells us that the people rule. In practice, we have leaders who rule the people in a manner not altogether different from the princes and potentates of times past.' There are many superficial pop books on the implications of Machiavelli's thought on management, business, war, and politics. Carnes Lords has written a readable work of depth that is a potential modern classic focused around the problem of executive decision-making and America's role in the world. Like Machiavelli, Lords covers a broad range of contemporary leaders from Singapores's Lee Kuan Yew, Japan's Nakasone and Tanaka, the former USSR's Boris Yeltsin, and Britain's Margarent Thatcher along with such class thinkers as Alexander Hamilton, Aristotle, and Tocqueville, and of course, Machiavelli is cited throughout. Unlike Machiavelli however, largely absent from the book is advice on how to manipulate the public. Lords worked for the National Security Council for President Reagan and for national security affairs in the H.Bush, Sr. administration. In Machiavellian fashion however(beware of those who flatter you), the book does not languish partisan praise on these leaders. Lords is critical of the mass media as an unelected fourth estate, academic political scientists, and instant gratification leaders unwilling to disadvantage anyone. Highly recommended.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Political leadership with incredible clarity, October 19, 2004

By 

Bill O'Chee (Surfers Paradise, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Modern Prince: What Leaders Need to Know Now (Hardcover)

I am generally averse to rating a book with five stars. This book is an exception to the rule.

The author is a distinguished policy advisor and academic who has served in two American Presidential administrations, and who brings an incredible clarity to the study of political leadership.

Eschewing modern political science as in "fundamental disarry" and incapable of providing a coherent theory of politics, Lord turns to observation of American political history and more recent world history for an analysis of what he calls "statecraft" in action. The book then proceeds through a logical progression of chapters from "Why leadership is still possible" to "An exhortation to preserve democracy from the barbarians." Throughout, Lord manages to emulate the style of Machiavelli's original work, but bring to it a broad philosophical analysis which shows the breadth of his own intellectual powers.

For someone looking for a book on real politics and leadership without the self-obsession of most modern political science, this is an outstanding read.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Map of the Modern Political Landscape, January 27, 2005

By 

Adam Ewer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Modern Prince: What Leaders Need to Know Now (Hardcover)

"The Modern Prince" is not what I had expected, but it provides something equally valuable.

I would not call "The Modern Prince" a handbook in the sense of Machiavelli's original. The fact is, it spells out hardly any real answers for dealing with the complicated problems of contemporary governing. I had hoped to find something comparable to Machiavelli, a handbook that would impart sage advice for the modern statesman. But Carnes Lord is not Machiavelli's successor. If you want a handbook filled with little nuggets of wisdom, turn to Machiavelli's original or to Marcus Aurelius.

What Carnes Lord has created instead is a map of the political landscape in today's advanced democracies. In each chapter, he gives competent analysis of the various features of that landscape, including the media, the military, intelligence agencies, the economy, and the class of people he calls "the elites". Each of these has their place, and each can be manipulated to serve the policy goals of the leader. But he reminds us that they can also become obstacles if not supervised or managed adequately. They are tools that can work for you or against you. That is his main point, and it's an important one to understand. The trouble is that Lord does little to explain HOW to make them work for you. This is what I had hoped to find here. But perhaps the answers are too complex to fit into a layman's guide to government.

Yes, I've said that it isn't the handbook I expected. Yes, I've said that it raises more questions than answers. And I haven't even mentioned that it's littered with a whole bunch of the author's personal right-wing prejudices. But stil I give it four stars. Why? Because at the end of the day, I realized that it had given me something equally enriching: exposure to the realist school of politics. It's easy to fight for lofty ideals; but how do you bring those ideals down into the dirt, into this imperfect world, full of people with conflicting ideas and agendas? That's a much more important question.

In short, this book has given me new appreciation for what defines a competent statesman. I feel that from now on, my vote shall reflect an opinion that is not just more educated, but also better-educated.