Bytes and Bullets - by Steve Feldstein (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

New tech is changing the contours of geopolitical stability--America must act now, or risk losing its global standing forever.

Technology has always driven political competition. For decades, the US set the international rules on innovation, standards, and export regulations, using soft power and federal funding to both develop cutting edge tech and prevent its rivals from acquiring it. But in the digital era, major breakthroughs in everything from AI systems to autonomous drones now come from private companies, not government labs. It is already too late for superpowers to stop the outward flow of research and expertise. The fallout from this shift could dramatically reshape our world, and America is running out of time to act.

Bytes and Bullets is an analytically rich account of how technology is upending global competition. Through engaging stories and original research, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace senior fellow Steve Feldstein shows how America's primacy is being undercut at every turn by commercialization, China's growing capabilities, and new regional powers building their own spheres of influence. He offers eye-opening insights from modern conflicts and proposes concrete strategies that democracies must adopt to shape the future.

Review Quotes

"Tech is reshaping power in ways we barely understand; Feldstein's work cuts through the noise to highlight what we need to know. His work on digital repression and global politics challenges conventional thinking and offers new perspectives on critical issues." --Dr. Seva Gunitsky, University of Toronto professor, author of Aftershocks

"We hear a great deal about weaponized interdependence and the technological arms race, but this desperately needed to be corralled together into an accessible book with a coherent central thesis. Feldstein is a seriously talented and clear-headed thinker and he is the right man--given his connections, access and expertise--to write it." --Dr. Matthew Ford, Swedish Defence University professor, coauthor of Radical War

"The placid reveries of these last few decades are about to be shattered by a new era of global conflict--one defined by a profusion of technologies even their creators don't fully understand. Steve Feldstein is among the guides I trust most in this uncertain landscape. He's the rare analyst with the breadth of knowledge, variety of experience, and clarity of vision to help the rest of us navigate the furious change that awaits."
--Josh Chin, senior Wall Street Journal correspondent, coauthor of Surveillance State

About the Author

Steve Feldstein is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. An international expert on technology, democracy, and national security, he previously served as a senior official at the State Department and USAID. His first book, The Rise of Digital Repression, won the 2023 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. He has appeared on CNBC, CSPAN, NPR, and BBC, and his writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, and Lawfare, among others.