Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemogly and James Robinson provides answers to questions asked by most people who study or deal with development, war, and poverty. The central question is: why are some nations strong and others weak? Why are some trapped in perpetual poverty and others prospering beyond measure? Why do some nations fail while others do not? The authors essentially argue that it is "institutions, more precisely the political institutions that determine economic institutions" (Boldrin, Levine and Modica) that determine whether a nation will succeed or collapse. They present a number of important examples and make statements intended to force the audience to really think about privilege, luck, and what truly determines our destiny. This essay will first present a summary of the book and its central ideas, then discuss whether these are valid, important, and how they fit into the larger debate. The book opens with a chapter titled “So Close Yet So Different: The Economy of the Rio Grande.” This is an interesting choice in itself: people often discuss these issues relating to third world countries in Africa and the Middle East, but we rarely consider the issue from the perspective of the US-Mexico border and the striking difference that exists between these two . nations in towns and cities that exist just hours apart. The authors begin by describing this striking contrast between Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, cities that share a name but not a flag. In the first there is a relatively healthy population, with electricity, telephones and a sewage system, guaranteed education and an average income of 30 thousand dollars a year. They are not the richest American cities by far,...... middle of paper... life, especially at the level of national politics, is very complicated. To reduce the issue to an institutional issue is to forget many other aspects that may come into play and, as such, it may be reductive and essentialist to simply place blame on this area of ​​life. In conclusion, I think Why Nations Fail is an important piece of literature in the field of international politics, economics and development and should be taken into consideration when discussing how we can adapt and change the way we see why where things happen the way they happen and the historical circumstances behind them. Works Cited Acemoglu, Daron and Robinson, James. “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty.” Corona Publishers. New York. 2012. Boldrin, Michele et al. "A review of Acemoglu and Robinson's book Why Nations Fail." http://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/general/aandrreview.pdf