The Master Strategist: Power, Purpose and Principle in Action

In the same way that Machiavelli, and Sun Tzu before him, exploded all existing ideas about strategy in The Prince and The Art of War, The Master Strategist cuts across politics, economics and business to set out a new and compelling way to think about strategy for a peaceful, prosperous and more free future.

We stand at a point in history where we can have almost anything we desire. Our ability to compute the underlying equations of everything — our genetic code, the structure of matter, the nature of time and space — promises to enable us to enter a new era of miracles. The ability to create new weapons that can reach any enemy promises to enable us to wage any war. Learning how to harness and direct this capability is now critical if we are to forge a better future.

It is in Man’s nature to dream and aspire and then to endeavour, deceive and fight to achieve his dreams and aspirations. Strategy is merely the word we give to the thought that goes into determining how we will prevail.

Ketan Patel, founder and head of the Strategic Group at Goldman Sachs, meets with leaders in international business, investing and government policy every week. This unique access to people at this level has given him the opportunity of discussing with them some of the most fundamental questions facing us, in particular, the strategies for creating peace, prosperity and freedom.

The Master Strategist explains why our current approaches to strategy are failing to create a world where power, purpose and principle are exercised to produce global peace, prosperity and freedom. It sets out the agenda for a new approach to strategy that will be compelling for strategists from the White House to Wall Street to the streets of London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Mumbai and beyond.

Ketan Patel, 42, is the founder and head of the Strategic Group at Goldman Sachs. His life involves a strict regime of travelling the world to present compelling thought to influence the agendas of leaders in industry, investing and government. This regime is interspersed with personal development time spent exploring disruptive technology, geo-political scenarios and possibilities, ancient military and esoteric thought, meditation, Tai Chi and Wing Chun, yoga, writing poetry, painting and drawing.