A Birthday, a Book, and a World in Flux

Turning another year older, and preparing to release my most ambitious book yet.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

First, thank you for the birthday wishes today! I’m “celebrating” by flying to San Antonio to give my first talk on my new book at Trinity University.

The publication later this month of Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder is an even bigger milestone than turning … (you guess the number). I have published many books before, but this is the most ambitious book yet. It’s also my last. If you’re still looking for the perfect birthday gift for me, this is it!

Please consider preordering a copy. Preorders are hugely important, as they signal interest to booksellers and boost visibility on bestseller lists. This will help get the book—and its ideas—into more hands (and minds!)

Get your copy here:

· Amazon 

· Barnes & Noble 

· Books-A-Million

· Bookshop.org

What’s the book about?

Given the times we live in, Autocrats vs. Democrats is the most important book I’ve ever written. It’s really three books in one:

In Section One, I trace U.S.-Russia relations and U.S.-China relations from the 18th century to the present day. I explain how shifts in power, regime, and leadership have created moments of both cooperation and confrontation.

In Section Two, I provide a snapshot of the balance of power, the ideological contest, and the competing conceptions of global order that the U.S., China, and Russia advance today. This nine-chapter section stands as the book’s core.

In Section Three, I provide clear, strategic, and comprehensive recommendations on how to compete most effectively with China and Russia. Drawing on lessons from the Cold War, I identify successes we must replicate, mistakes we must avoid, and foreign policy prescriptions unique to the present day—particularly regarding China.

So, Autocrats vs. Democrats is really three books for the price of one! A real bargain.

We are living in uncertain times, and I’m deeply concerned by the world’s current trajectory and America’s retreat from global leadership. The erosion of support for democracy—both abroad and at home—is, in my view, also dangerous: it threatens American security, undermines our prosperity, and erodes the values we claim to stand for.

This book is my effort to diagnose the challenges that autocratic China and Russia pose to America and the rest of the free world. But I also offer something forward-looking—a practical, concrete, and new strategy for global engagement that advances American interests and values.

I hope you will read the book and tell me what you think.

A few notes:

For journalists: I’ll be doing as many interviews as I can on the book between now and publication week. Please reach out to info@michaelmcfaul.com.

For professors: I’m happy to share the syllabus I used to teach my course on great power politics—this book is a central text. I will also “Zoom” in for a guest lecture! For those teaching international relations, I think my book is a nice complement to those who also assign Mearsheimer’s The Tragedy of Great Power Politics.

For public event organizers: I’m eager to discuss this book throughout the country. Get in touch! For years, I have been telling many of you that I can’t come because I need to finish my book. Well, now I’ve finished my book!

And to Ukrainians reading this: you are on the frontline of this global fight between Autocrats and Democrats. I dedicate this book to you—and to all small-d democrats around the world who are fighting for democracy where it does not exist and defending it where it is under assault.

Some advance praise for the book below.

Thanks for your consideration,

Mike

“Autocrats vs. Democrats examines the competing ideologies shaping US, China, and Russia relations today, how we got here, what’s at stake, and where US foreign policy can go next. For those who still believe in the promise of international engagement and democratic ideals to advance American interests abroad, Michael McFaul’s book offers both clarity and hope.”  — Hillary Rodham Clinton, author of  Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty 

“In Autocrats vs. Democrats, Michael McFaul offers 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. This is the American grand strategy for our time—a guide for the next generation of leaders.”  — Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy, Inc. 

“In this tour de force of history, theory, and policy experience, Michael McFaul illuminates the evolving conflicts and alignments between the United States and its illiberal great power rivals, tracing the contemporary world order’s journey from the optimistic expectations of post–Cold War liberal internationalists to today’s troubled moment.”  — G. John Ikenberry, author of A World Safe for Democracy: Liberal Internationalism and the Crises of Global Order 

“Autocrats vs. Democrats is a monumental account of contemporary geopolitics—where Russia, China, and the US stand today, how they got there, and where they are likely to go. Michael McFaul brings vast knowledge as both an academic and a practitioner to this critical subject.”  — Francis Fukuyama, author of Liberalism and Its Discontents 

“An insightful and vigorous argument for democracy in a world of new threats—not all foreign.”  — Kirkus Reviews