One of the worlds most seasoned international relations experts updates and revises his far-sighted 1999 book arguing that the Cold War did not, in fact, end with the collapse of the USSR and that the US, Russia and China today are locked anew in a spiral of hostilities.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, warnings about a new Cold War proliferated. In fact, argues Gilbert Achcar, the New Cold War has been ongoing since the turn of the century. Racing to solidify its position in the 1990s as the last remaining superpower, the US alienated Russia and China, pushing them closer and rebooting the old Cold War with disastrous implications. Vladimir Putins consequent rise and imperialist reinvention, along with Xi Jinpings own ascendancy and increasingly autocratic tendencies, would, respectively, culminate in the murderous invasion of Ukraine and mounting tensions over Taiwan and trade. Was all this inevitable? Will these three world powers permanent readiness to war write the story of the twenty-first century? What comes after Ukraine? What might the contours of a more peaceful world look like? These questions and many others are addressed in this essential book by one of the most astute and seasoned analysts of international relations.