Working for P. W. Botha, Dr. Neil Barnard opens talks with imprisoned Nelson Mandela. But lesser known are the secret talks that take place in a rural English manor house. Both sides may win or lose all, including their own lives. Botha learns of the British talks and, with the inevitable demise of apartheid, he intends to control the endgame by using the tactics of divide and rule. Against all the odds, a precious arena of frail trust between the...

"Why do leaders sometimes get it so wrong when making major policy decisions despite all the resources in terms of expertise and experience they can call on? We debate debacles such as the American involvement in Vietnam, seeking to understand why leaders pursued disastrous policies. In Prisoners of their Premises George Edwards argues that the failure of leaders to examine their premises, the assumptions they make about the world and situation they...

"To understand world politics, you need to understand how states think. Are states rational? Much of international relations theory assumes that they are. But many scholars believe that political leaders rarely act rationally. The issue is crucial for both the study and practice of international politics, for only if states are rational can scholars and policymakers understand and predict their behavior. John J. Mearsheimer and Sebastian Rosato argue...