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Rating: 
Summary: Simplistic and obvious
Review: From one of the high priests of the rational choice cult comes a simplistic and obvious book. Foreign policy decision makers are motivated to keep their jobs! Really? Gee, we never knew that Bruce. Terrible book!
Rating: 
Summary: Self-Righteous
Review: Throughout this text, Bueno de Mesquita tries to convey to the reader his belief that all wars and conflicts in the history of the world could have been avoided if only the decision makers had read his book. And through it all, he manages to project a sense of self-righteous superiority that I have never before seen in a book designed to be a textbook. I personally think that his theory has merit, but it is not the cure-all for international politics. He uses many examples, some of which are good and some of which are bad. An example of the latter is found in the chapter on preferences (9) when he spends about 10 pages on an inane and contrived example concerning a soda machine and the choices involved. Stick with examples involving the subject of the book! Also, he likes to refer to himself a lot. There is one instance in which he refers to his own past works 5 times in 2 consecutive paragraphs. This so annoyed me that I began highlighting each incident of self-citation, which generally occurs on every page.That being said, if you're interested in BDM's strategic theory of International Relations, this is a good book, but if you want a more objective and comprehensive explanation of various IR theories, I would go with something else.
Rating: 
Summary: An eye opener!
Review: You want to know what the Matrix is? Read the book. This is the real thing!
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