Insights do not qualify as predictions precisely because of the intrinsic impossibility of reliably measuring messy, ill-structured situations. The political world is complex, its inalienable feature is ambiguity, and its tendency to change is absurdly high. Complicating matters are the innumerable variables and their interactionthat shape a political system. This situation becomes more difficult as companies venture into emerging markets, each with its own political pecu- liarities. Going from the United States to Mexico may be a stretch, but that pales in comparison to expanding from the United States to, say, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, or Rwanda. No matter how powerful the spreadsheet or insightful the expert, the dimensions and dynamic of a political environment defy precise specification. Certainly, developing broad frameworks that anticipate unpredict able hazards makes good business sense. However, prudently managing political risk starts by rejecting the delusion that one can. The objective is protection, not prediction.