Alastair Smith is the Bernhardt Denmark Chair of International Relations at New York University, professor of political science in the Wilf Family Department of Politics, and co-author (with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita) of The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics. [This is part one of a two-part episode. Please check back later in the week for part two!]

• How do dictators come to power and remain in power even when their policies serve only themselves and not the people under their "leadership?"
• Why do the majority of people living under dictatorships suffer in impoverished squalor, and how does foreign aid empower these dictators rather than help the general populace?
• Why do dictators consistently hate freedom, the media, and seemingly their own citizens?
• Why does bad behavior so often make for good politics — even in the most progressive nations?
• Are our own governments beyond saving, or can we use lessons learned here to make them work for us?
• And much more...

Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/794

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