First published 2024
The United States confronts an unprecedented challenge as it battles two nuclear superpowers simultaneously. Xi Jinping's China and Vladimir Putin's Russia have abandoned any pretense of joining the Western order, forcing America into a complex three-way struggle for global dominance. This new conflict bears little resemblance to the previous Cold War. Putin's invasion of Ukraine raises the specter of nuclear escalation, while China threatens Taiwan and retaliates against American technology sanctions. The battlegrounds span from Ukrainian trenches where cyber attacks accompany artillery barrages to corporate boardrooms where tech executives navigate geopolitical pressures. Sanger draws on extensive interviews with White House officials, intelligence operatives, foreign leaders, and technology company executives to reveal how quickly the post-Cold War dream collapsed. Nations worldwide must choose sides as military, economic, and technological competition intensifies. The book traces critical moments and decisions that brought America to this crossroads, examining whether Putin's miscalculations in Ukraine will prove fatal and how China might respond to semiconductor restrictions.
Genres: international-relations, political-science, non-fiction, 21st-century, current-affairs, political-thriller
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: global-conflict, power-struggle
Setting: China, Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine, United States
Period: 21st Century
528 pages · Hardcover · Crown