The New Cold War: Technology, Territory and the Battle for the 21st Century
Paperback
Series: The Global Fault Lines
International RelationsMilitary Strategy
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Jun 13 2026
Pages: 646
Weight: 1.69
Height: 1.60 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The post-Cold War illusion is over. A new era of great-power competition has begun.
For thirty years, the world believed that history had ended - that liberal democracy, free markets, and American leadership were the inevitable destiny of humankind. That illusion died in Crimea, in the South China Sea, in the semiconductor foundries of Taiwan, and in the algorithmic battlefields of cyberspace.
In The New Cold War, Nicholas Holt maps the multiple fronts of the twenty-first century's defining contest: the technology war over 5G, AI, and quantum computing; the militarisation of space; the scramble for Arctic resources; the nuclear renaissance; the biological frontier of pandemics and bioweapons; and the information battlefield where disinformation, cyber war, and cognitive warfare are the new normal.
Inside, you will discover:
- The tech war's real stakes: why control of semiconductors, AI, and quantum computing is the new arms race
- The space race reborn: how satellites have become both the infrastructure of modern life and the first battlefield of the next war
- The Arctic gambit: ice, resources, and the northern competition that no one is watching
- The Indo-Pacific chessboard: alliances, bases, and the containment architecture encircling China
- Cold peace or hot war? Three scenarios for the new bipolar age - and how to prepare for each
This book is essential for:
- Defence and intelligence professionals navigating the new threat landscape
- Technology investors assessing geopolitical risk in AI, semiconductors, and space
- Citizens who need to understand the forces shaping their security and their children's future
The New Cold War is not a metaphor. It is the framework within which the twenty-first century will be fought. This book is your field guide.
Also from
Holt, Nicholas
History Doesn't Repeat But It Rhymes: Patterns Behind Modern Geopolitical Crisis
Holt, Nicholas
Paperback
The World After Globalisation: Supply Chains, Sovereignty and the New Regionalism
Holt, Nicholas
Paperback
Europe After the Dream: Identity, Immigration and the Fracturing of the West
Holt, Nicholas
Paperback
The Middle East Reset: Oil, Religion and the New Alliances Reshaping the Region
Holt, Nicholas
Paperback
The Petrodollar End: Energy, Currency and the Quiet Death of Dollar Dominance
Holt, Nicholas
Paperback
Also in
Military Strategy
Soul of the Samurai: Modern Translations of Three Classic Works of Zen & Bushido
Cleary, Thomas
Hardcover
Viking Warrior Operations Manual: The Life, Equipment, Weapons and Fighting Tactics of the Vikings
Konstam, Angus
Hardcover
The Hour Strikes: Churchill, Roosevelt, and Hitler at the Hinge of History, 1941
Thomas, Evan
Thomas, Oscie
Hardcover
Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice
McRaven, William H.
Paperback
Henry Knox's Noble Train: The Story of a Boston Bookseller's Heroic Expedition That Saved the American Revolution
Hazelgrove, William Elliott
Hardcover
Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps' Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life
Van Horne, Patrick
Riley, Jason A.
Paperback
Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy (Deluxe Leatherbound Edition)
Tzu, Sun
Lao-Tzu
Confucius
Hardcover
The Official U.S. Army Survival Manual Updated
Underwood, Peter T.
U S Department of the Army
Paperback
U.S. Army Special Forces Guide to Unconventional Warfare: Devices and Techniques for Incendiaries
United States Department of the Army
Army
Paperback
The Generosity of Scars: How Your Stories of Struggle Can Change Lives--Especially Your Own
Mann, Scott
Hardcover
Waging a Good War: How the Civil Rights Movement Won Its Battles, 1954-1968
Ricks, Thomas E.
Paperback
The Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of the Bushido Shoshinshu of Taira Shigesuke
Cleary, Thomas
Hardcover
Great Power Diplomacy: The Skill of Statecraft from Attila the Hun to Kissinger
Mitchell, A. Wess
Hardcover
The Book of Five Rings: Including the Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War by Yagyu Munenori
Musashi, Miyamoto
Paperback
Special Reconnaissance and Advanced Small Unit Patrolling: Tactics, Techniques and Procedures for Special Operations Forces
Wolcoff, Edward
Paperback
The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War
Jalali, Ali Ahmad
Grau, Lester W.
Paperback
Three Days at the Brink: Fdr's Daring Gamble to Win World War II
Whitney, Catherine
Baier, Bret
Paperback
Bushido: The Samurai Code of Japan: With an Extensive Introduction and Notes by Alexander Bennett
Nitobe, Inazo
Hardcover
Such Troops as These: The Genius and Leadership of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson
Alexander, Bevin
Paperback
The CIA PSYOP Manual - Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare: Updated 2017 Release - Newly Indexed - With Additional Material - Full-Size Edit
Agency, Central Intelligence
Paperback
On War (Royal Collector's Edition) (Annotated) (Case Laminate Hardcover with Jacket)
Von Clausewitz, Carl
Hardcover
Blunting the Spear: The Pacific Carrier War from Pearl Harbor to the Doolittle Raid
Stern, Robert C.
Hardcover
The Way of the Warrior: The Way of the Samurai, the Art of War, the Book of Five Rings
Musashi, Miyamoto
Tzu, Sun
Nitobe, Inazo
Hardcover
Brothers in Arms: One Legendary Tank Regiment's Bloody War from D-Day to Ve-Day
Holland, James
Paperback
U.S. Army Special Forces Guide to Unconventional Warfare: Devices and Techniques for Incendiaries
U S Department of the Army
Paperback
Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam
Nagl, John A.
Paperback
Verdun: The Lost History of the Most Important Battle of World War I, 1914-1918
Mosier, John
Paperback
Defense Against Drones: Defending Against Threats From The Air - Combatting Scout and Attack Drones
Nagy, Kristóf
Reisner, Markus
Paperback
The Myth of the Great War: A New Military History of World War I
Mosier, John
Literary Group International
Paperback
Chamber Divers: The Untold Story of the D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations Forever
Lance, Rachel
Paperback
Sun Tzu's Art of War for Women: Strategies for Winning Without Conflict - Revised with a New Introduction
Rosenberg, A. D.
Huang, Catherine
Paperback
Mahan on Naval Strategy: Selections from the Writings of Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan
Mahan, Alfred Thayer
Paperback
The Strategists: Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt, Mussolini, and Hitler--How War Made Them and How They Made War
O'Brien, Phillips Payson
Hardcover
The Burma Road: The Epic Story of the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II
Webster, Donovan
Paperback
Scripture and the Sword: Tactical, Practical and Spiritual Lessons from the Bible's Greatest Warriors
Hix, Jordan
Paperback
Psyop: Military Psychological Operations Manual: Military Psychological Operations Manual
U S Army
Paperback
The Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy
Tzu, Sun
Hardcover
The Way of the Warrior: The Way of the Samurai, the Art of War, the Book of Five Rings
Tzu, Sun
Miyamoto, Musashi
Nitobe, Inazo
Paperback
Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941
Evans, David C.
Peattie, David
Paperback
The Skulking Way of War: Technology and Tactics Among the New England Indians
Malone, Patrick M.
Paperback
Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference
Burbank, Jane
Cooper, Frederick
Paperback
Sipri Yearbook 2026: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Hardcover
The New Rules of War: How America Can Win--Against Russia, China, and Other Threats
McFate, Sean
Paperback
The Art of War: A Classical Treatise on Strategy and Military Science
de Jomini, Baron Antoine-Henri
Paperback
Collected Writings of Chairman Mao: Volume 3 - On Policy, Practice and Contradiction
Zedong, Mao
Tse-Tung, Mao
Paperback
U.S. Army Survival Manual FM 21-76 (Survival, Evasion, and Recovery)
Department of Defense
U. S. Army
Paperback
Napoleon Bonaparte's First Campaign: Italy 1796-97 and the Defeat of the Austrian Armies
Sargent, Herbert H.
Paperback
Red Star Over the Pacific, Third Edition: China's Rise and the Challenge to U.S. Maritime Strategy
Holmes, James R.
Yoshihara, Toshi
Paperback
Blackett's War: The Men Who Defeated the Nazi U-Boats and Brought Science to the Art of Warfare
Budiansky, Stephen
Paperback
Five Rings: The Classic Text on Mastery in Swordsmanship, Leadership and Conflict: A New Translation
Musashi, Miyamoto
Hardcover
Managing the Union Army: Scott, McClellan, Halleck, and Grant as General-In-Chief
Hess, Earl J.
Hardcover
Military History for the Modern Strategist: America's Major Wars Since 1861
O'Hanlon, Michael
Paperback
The Book of Ninja: The Bansenshukai - Japan's Premier Ninja Manual
Minami, Yoshie
Cummins, Antony
Hardcover
Sipri Yearbook 2025: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Hardcover
