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

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 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 (Editors’ Choice)

ONE OF NPR’S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

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 readers from the battlefields of Ukraine—where Russia uses bullets from North Korea and drones from Iran—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.

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 the best book so far to define a new era of great power struggles between the United States, China and Russia.”—NPR

“Sanger vividly conveys the immediacy of decision-making, showing how short-term preoccupations shape the long term.”—Foreign Affairs

“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

“[A] stellar history of Biden’s foreign policy.”—Airmail

“Sanger is an acute analyst and, above all, an engaged and thoughtful listener. The book is full of insights and anecdotes from the ‘center of the action’ of political decision-making and clearly shows Sanger’s familiarity with the ins and outs of US domestic and foreign policy.” —H-Diplo, The Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum


“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

A must listen

One of the best books I have come across in years providing both indepth reporting on the post-cold war period as well as the context upon which the superpowers are evolving.
If you are curious about what's going on out there in terms of international politics, this is one book that is a must read.

Sanger Does Not Disappoint

I listened to David Sanger's previous book, The Perfect Weapon. I was so engrossed by his engaging writing style and incite, that I could not wait until his most recent book (New Cold Wars) was available. It does not disappoint!! He uses so many reputable sources in piecing together this book, that a person really cannot ignore the inescapable conclusion that America is (as the title states) "in a new Cold War."
This is an incredible book, and Robertson Dean is a great narrator with excellent diction, clear pronunciation and that masterful talent of just the right emotion at the right place/time. I now will be looking for every newspaper article written by Sanger, as he is currently reporting for the NY Times.

Provided new understanding of what is gong on in this complicated world

The detail and depth of analysis on so many conflicts and mysteries that I did not u

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.

Very informative

Really helps enlighten and put the present state of the world affairs into perspective. Highly recommended.