Autocrats vs. Democrats<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Michael McFaul<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A history, an analysis, and a set of prescriptions for the greatest geopolitical challenge of our time: the threat to the democratic world posed by China and Russia.” \u2014Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy, Inc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A monumental account of contemporary geopolitics”\u2014Francis Fukuyama, author of Liberalism and Its Discontents<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From New York Times bestselling author and former ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul comes a bold, clear-eyed look at how the autocracies of China and Russia are challenging the current global order, and how America\u2019s future depends on successfully confronting this threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rise of China, Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, and the reelection of President Donald Trump have reinforced a gloomy yet growing consensus: the old global order has ended, and a new Cold War has begun. And yet, many of the perils we face today are distinctly different from those we encountered from the Soviet Union. The alliance between the autocracies of China and Russia, China\u2019s economic might, the rise of the far right in the United States and Europe, and the disturbing isolationist foreign policy shifts of the Trump administration\u2014taken together represent new challenges for the democratic world. They are threats with no precedent in the past century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this sweeping account of great power competition between the United States, China, and Russia over the past three centuries, Michael McFaul\u2014former ambassador to Russia and international affairs analyst for NBC News\u2014argues persuasively that today\u2019s challenges require fresh thinking, not constrained by distant memories of the Cold War or the nationalist dreams of MAGA. One of the preeminent thinkers on American foreign policy for decades, McFaul combines in-depth historical analysis with a forward-looking perspective, crafting a new grand strategy for America in this age of global disorder. Acknowledging how Xi\u2019s China, Putin\u2019s Russia, and Trump\u2019s America are upending the current international system, Autocrats vs. Democrats makes the case against America\u2019s retreat from the world, detailing why:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia\u2019s disruptive ambitions should not be underestimated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China\u2019s capabilities should not be overestimated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s shift toward isolationism and autocracy will weaken America\u2019s place in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At once a clarion call for American diplomacy and a forceful rebuttal of the Trump administration\u2019s policies, Autocrats vs. Democrats provides a nuanced assessment of the China and Russia threats, as well as a bold vision for renewing America\u2019s leadership on the world stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1000037189-1-819x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1000037190-819x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1000037192-819x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1000037191-1-819x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"