The Importance of the Prince in Today's World The only way to move forward was to be part of the inner circle. It didn't really matter what the problem was or what kind of implications it had. All that mattered was knowing the right person, having the right information, making the right introductions, and going to the right parties. The most valuable information wasn't necessarily something you knew about an enemy, but something you knew about a friend. The staff and "advisers" were, in many ways, far more powerful than the aristocrat in charge. As much as it may seem, it was not late 20th century Washington, D.C., but early 16th century Italy. The book that tells it all is not “The Primary Colors,” “And the Horse He Rode,” or any other modern political book, but the most infamous political book of all time, “The Prince” by Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527 ). . Machiavelli entered government service as a clerk and became famous when the Florentine Republic was proclaimed in 1498. His duties included missions to the French king (1504, 1510-11), the Holy See (1506), and the German emperor (1507 - 8). During his diplomatic missions in Italy he met many Italian rulers and was able to study their political tactics, in particular those of Cesare Borgia, who at that time was busy expanding his possessions in central Italy. From 1503 to 1506 Machiavelli reorganized the military defense of the republic of Florence. Although mercenary armies were common in this period, he preferred to rely on the conscription of indigenous troops to ensure a permanent and patriotic defense of the state. In 1512, when the Medici, a Florentine family, regained power in Florence, in......middle of paper......of Milan. His sons, who were not interested in the war, lost Milan and became private citizens. The prince who is not interested in war becomes despicable, and this attitude on the part of others must be protected at all costs." At the heart of all his writings, Machiavelli was determined to eliminate fiction and examine what he perceived as reality. Before he could do this, he had to develop his own political hypothesis, which was based not on Christian ethics, as other writers before him had done, but rather on what he considered obvious and observable through his eyes, modern readers had l 'opportunity to see the political maneuverings of an era of great intrigue and deception not unlike late 20th century America. Works Cited: Machiavelli, The Prince, 1947.