New Cold Wars

China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West

By: David E. Sanger, Mary K. Brooks

Narrated by: Robertson Dean, David E. Sanger

Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

The fast-paced inside story of America’s plunge into a volatile rivalry with the other two great nuclear powers—Xi Jinping’s China and Vladimir Putin’s Russia—from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author of The Perfect Weapon

“[A] cogent, revealing account of how a generation of American officials have grappled with dangerous developments in the post-Cold War era . . . vividly captures Washington.”—The New York Times

New Cold Wars—the latest from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author of The Perfect Weapon David E. Sanger—is a fast-paced account of America’s plunge into simultaneous confrontations with two very different adversaries. For years, the United States was confident that the newly democratic Russia and increasingly wealthy China could be lured into a Western-led order that promised prosperity and relative peace—so long as they agreed to Washington’s terms. By the time America emerged from the age of terrorism, it was clear that this had been a fantasy.

Now the three powers are engaged in a high-stakes struggle for military, economic, political, and technological supremacy, with nations around the world pressured to take sides. Yet all three are discovering that they are maneuvering for influence in a far more turbulent world than they imagined.

Based on a remarkable array of interviews with top officials from five presidential administrations, U.S. intelligence agencies, foreign governments, and tech companies, Sanger unfolds a riveting narrative spun around the era’s critical questions: Will the mistakes Putin made in his invasion of Ukraine prove his undoing and will he reach for his nuclear arsenal—or will the West’s famously short attention span signal Kyiv’s doom? Will Xi invade Taiwan? Will both men deepen their partnership to undercut America’s dominance? And can a politically dysfunctional America still lead the world?

Taking listeners from the battlefields of Ukraine—where trench warfare and cyberwarfare are interwoven—to the Taiwan headquarters where the world’s most advanced computer chips are produced and on to tense debates in the White House Situation Room, New Cold Wars is a remarkable first-draft history chronicling America’s return to superpower conflict, the choices that lie ahead, and what is at stake for the United States and the world.

©2024 David E. Sanger (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“[A] cogent, revealing account of how a generation of American officials have grappled with dangerous developments in the post-Cold War era—the rise of an enduringly authoritarian China, the return of state-on-state conflict in Europe—that have produced a geopolitical mash-up of old and new . . . compelling . . . vividly captures Washington.”—The New York Times

“This is a highly entertaining book to read, despite its immense cautionary themes. Sanger gets both the broad theory and the human details right and along the way provides a powerful book of geopolitics appearing at a hinge moment in global history.”—The Cipher Brief

“We have just been hurtled into a new and far more dangerous world, and David E. Sanger has been present at its creation. Sanger’s brilliant book is a masterpiece of reporting, revelations, and analysis. It takes us into hidden rooms and lets us eavesdrop on secret conversations that address up-to-the-minute struggles over Russia, China, Ukraine, the Middle East, and other flashpoints, as well as crucial technological innovations. Sanger’s mesmerizing inside story of a world transformed will inspire and disturb, but as the author makes abundantly clear, no one who lives on this planet can ignore what is happening.”—Michael Beschloss, New York Times bestselling author of Presidents of War

very informative.

I felt like there was a little bias and maybe some propaganda mixed into this book. overall I felt like this was very informative.

Gives many insights into our new Cold Wars

David Sanger has been a reporter for the New York Times for forty years, and he brings his experience, wisdom, and deep contacts with various sources to this book, which goes far beyond stories in the daily paper. As has been clear for a while now, we are enmeshed in new Cold Wars with Russia and China, and this book gives details on how this is playing out. David Sanger himself reads the opening chapter and does a good job. The main reader, Robertson Dean, is perfect for this kind of history—calm, measured, and going at just the right speed to get the listener into the many insights and stories behind the scenes. This book covers one of the most important realities of our current age, and is well worth a credit for those seeking an intelligent exploration of the topic.

A bracing and clear eyed analysis

A bracing and clear eyed analysis of America’s role as the indispensable country. Incisive and insightful. Well worth the read.

Spin

Seems to cover for Obama and Biden by accepting their spinners and then bashes Trump by accepting the spin of his detractors.