Machiavelli is for the same kind of personality that reads the Art of War. Neither have any real application, but offer good justification for bad decisions.
Both “Art of War” and Machiavelli are required reading for military staff officers and for politicians. So much for “neither have any real application”. Why, look at our own WJC of the stained blue dress to see the real life applications to making a political career and to the political survival. One needs not merely read the texts, of course, but to ponder and to understand them. But then again, that applies to many other texts.