Featuring a new preface that addresses the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis, The Fat Tail is the first book to both identify the wide range of political risks that global firms face and show how to manage them effectively. Written by two of the world's leading figures in political risk management, it reveals that while the world remains exceedingly risky for businesses, it is by no means incomprehensible. Applying the lessons of world history, Ian Bremmer and Preston Keat survey a vast range of contemporary risk scenarios, from stable markets like the United States, where politically driven regulation can dramatically affect business, to more precarious places like Iran, Russia, Mexico, and Nigeria, where private property is less secure and energy politics sparks constant volatility. The book covers a wide array of political risks-great power rivalries, terrorist groups, government takeovers, internal strife, and even the "black swans" that defy prediction. Featuring a wealth of unique tools and concepts to help corporations and policy makers understand political risk, The Fat Tail shows when and how political risk analysis works-and when it does not. Book jacket.