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Cold War 2.0: Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle between China, Russia, and America
A vivid, thoughtful examination of how technological innovation—especially AI—is shaping the tensions between democracy and autocracy during the new Cold War.
So much of what we hear about China and Russia today likens the relationship between these two autocracies and the West to a “rivalry” or a “great-power competition.” Some might consider it alarmist to say we are in the midst of a second Cold War, but that may be the only responsible way to describe today’s state of affairs.
What’s more, we have come a long way from Mao Zedong’s infamous observation that “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” Now we live in an age more aptly described by Vladimir Putin’s cryptic prophecy that “artificial intelligence is the future not only of Russia, but of all mankind, and whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become ruler of the world.”
George S. Takach’s incisive and meticulously researched new volume, Cold War 2.0, is the book we need to thoroughly understand these frightening and perilous times. In the geopolitical sphere, there are no more pressing issues than the appalling mechanizations of a surveillance state in China, Russia’s brazen attempt to assert its autocratic model in Ukraine, and China’s increasingly likely plans to do the same in Taiwan.
But the key here, Takach argues, is that our new Cold War is not only ideological but the side that prevails in Cold War 2.0 will be the one that bests the other in mastering the greatest innovations of our time. Artificial intelligence sits in our pockets every day—but what about AI that coordinates military operations and missile defense systems? Or the highly sophisticated semiconductor chips and quantum computers that power those missiles and a host of other weapons? And, where recently we have seen remarkable feats of bio-engineering to produce vaccines at record speed, shouldn’t we be concerned how catastrophic it would be if bio-engineering were co-opted for nefarious purposes?
Takach thoroughly examines how each of these innovations will shape the tension between democracy and autocracy, and how each will play a central role in this second Cold War. Finally, he crafts a precise blueprint for how Western democracies should handle these innovations to respond to the looming threat of autocracy—and ultimately prevail over it.
So much of what we hear about China and Russia today likens the relationship between these two autocracies and the West to a “rivalry” or a “great-power competition.” Some might consider it alarmist to say we are in the midst of a second Cold War, but that may be the only responsible way to describe today’s state of affairs.
What’s more, we have come a long way from Mao Zedong’s infamous observation that “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” Now we live in an age more aptly described by Vladimir Putin’s cryptic prophecy that “artificial intelligence is the future not only of Russia, but of all mankind, and whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become ruler of the world.”
George S. Takach’s incisive and meticulously researched new volume, Cold War 2.0, is the book we need to thoroughly understand these frightening and perilous times. In the geopolitical sphere, there are no more pressing issues than the appalling mechanizations of a surveillance state in China, Russia’s brazen attempt to assert its autocratic model in Ukraine, and China’s increasingly likely plans to do the same in Taiwan.
But the key here, Takach argues, is that our new Cold War is not only ideological but the side that prevails in Cold War 2.0 will be the one that bests the other in mastering the greatest innovations of our time. Artificial intelligence sits in our pockets every day—but what about AI that coordinates military operations and missile defense systems? Or the highly sophisticated semiconductor chips and quantum computers that power those missiles and a host of other weapons? And, where recently we have seen remarkable feats of bio-engineering to produce vaccines at record speed, shouldn’t we be concerned how catastrophic it would be if bio-engineering were co-opted for nefarious purposes?
Takach thoroughly examines how each of these innovations will shape the tension between democracy and autocracy, and how each will play a central role in this second Cold War. Finally, he crafts a precise blueprint for how Western democracies should handle these innovations to respond to the looming threat of autocracy—and ultimately prevail over it.
432 pages, Hardcover
Published March 5, 2024
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134 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 7, 2024
Reading this book reminds me of highschool where you had to write essays of a minimum length.
You find sentences like this all over the book :
"
In short, the technology innovation model in autocratic China is nowhere near optimal, while the one in the US is far superior."
George S. Takach. Cold War 2.0 - Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle between China, Russia, and America (p. XXI). Kindle Edition.
In the book, early on the author establishes that China is an "autocratic" country. But every time he says China it is always preceded by 'autocratic'.
The word "autocratic" appears 151 times in the book, this seems excessively redundant?
As a Canadian i found this really ODD:
"
In Canada Chrystia Freeland is minister of finance, deputy prime minister, and one of the most steadfast supporters of Ukraine within the G7;
George S. Takach. Cold War 2.0 - Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle between China, Russia, and America (p. XXII). Kindle Edition.
"
The author clearly is unaware of her track record. She's got ZERO background in economics (she's a russian lit major) and has caused great harm to the canadian economy.
As a Canadian member of parliament, is it her job to support Ukraine, or Canada?
Her party is in free-fall because of bad decision after bad decision. She's not the first "token" hire Justin has put in power and now there are talks she is going to be tossed aside just like many other woman of power under Justin (See jody wilson raybould ). Even if she's not tossed aside, she is unlikely to win her own seat. It seems "advocating for Ukraine" isn't popular with her constituants?
Her family is from Ukraine, where her grandfather was a member of the Nazi party fighting for Ukraine independence, so there's that as well.
Claiming that "the autorcrats" are far behind "the deomocracies" in equality is an ABSOLUTE joke.
One of the worlds deadliest sharpshooters : Lyudmila Pavlichenko (Russian woman)
First woman in space : Valentina Tereshkova (Russian woman)
what were american women doing during the war in 1945, any at the front lines?
What about 1963, any in the Air Force?
The first American woman to go to space wasn't until 1983, 20 YEARS later.
Then we get to this beauty:
"In a similar vein, social diversity is another important positive differentiator of democracy over autocracy. Incredibly, autocrats see social diversity as a weakness of the democracies. They are dead wrong. Apple Inc. is the world’s most valuable company (with a market cap of $2.5 trillion), and arguably the globe’s leading tech company. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, is gay, as are millions of people in all countries around the world, including the autocracies. Unlike the autocracies, which make life very dangerous—and sometimes impossible—for gay people (Russia passed yet another antigay law in 2022), over the past fifty years the democracies have welcomed gay people into the mainstream of their societies, where they are fully participating in science, technology, politics, business, culture, education, and civil society.
George S. Takach. Cold War 2.0 - Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle between China, Russia, and America (pp. XXII-XXIII). Kindle Edition. "
What does Tim Cook being gay have to do with ANYTHING? Apple was rebuilt by Steve Jobs and handed over to Cook when it was already massively successful. His "gayness" had nothing to do with its success.
But while we are on the topic of equality, he doesn't mention how the US had an executive order (10450) BANNING LGBTQIA+ members from federal jobs.
Perhaps the author can to a similar law under the "autocratic" governments?
How does he reconcile "we use to have a law prohibiting gays from government jobs" and "Tim cook is gay and that is what made apple successful"?
"
In 1927 Mao Zedong, China’s first communist autocratic dictator, said “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” He knew what he was talking about. Twenty-two years later his Chinese Communist Party (CCP) won China’s civil war and Mao became the supreme leader of the world’s most populous country. His current autocratic successor, Xi Jinping, would probably update Mao’s aphorism to “civilian and military power is generated by the semiconductor chip,” in response to the embargo certain democracies have placed on the export of semiconductor chips (SCs) to China.
George S. Takach. Cold War 2.0 - Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle between China, Russia, and America (p. XXIX). Kindle Edition.
"
It would have been enough to simply say Mao Zedong was the first communist, "autocratic dictator" modifers dont accomplish anything except add to the number of times he's used these words in this book.
I simply cant finish this propaganda peice.
You find sentences like this all over the book :
"
In short, the technology innovation model in autocratic China is nowhere near optimal, while the one in the US is far superior."
George S. Takach. Cold War 2.0 - Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle between China, Russia, and America (p. XXI). Kindle Edition.
In the book, early on the author establishes that China is an "autocratic" country. But every time he says China it is always preceded by 'autocratic'.
The word "autocratic" appears 151 times in the book, this seems excessively redundant?
As a Canadian i found this really ODD:
"
In Canada Chrystia Freeland is minister of finance, deputy prime minister, and one of the most steadfast supporters of Ukraine within the G7;
George S. Takach. Cold War 2.0 - Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle between China, Russia, and America (p. XXII). Kindle Edition.
"
The author clearly is unaware of her track record. She's got ZERO background in economics (she's a russian lit major) and has caused great harm to the canadian economy.
As a Canadian member of parliament, is it her job to support Ukraine, or Canada?
Her party is in free-fall because of bad decision after bad decision. She's not the first "token" hire Justin has put in power and now there are talks she is going to be tossed aside just like many other woman of power under Justin (See jody wilson raybould ). Even if she's not tossed aside, she is unlikely to win her own seat. It seems "advocating for Ukraine" isn't popular with her constituants?
Her family is from Ukraine, where her grandfather was a member of the Nazi party fighting for Ukraine independence, so there's that as well.
Claiming that "the autorcrats" are far behind "the deomocracies" in equality is an ABSOLUTE joke.
One of the worlds deadliest sharpshooters : Lyudmila Pavlichenko (Russian woman)
First woman in space : Valentina Tereshkova (Russian woman)
what were american women doing during the war in 1945, any at the front lines?
What about 1963, any in the Air Force?
The first American woman to go to space wasn't until 1983, 20 YEARS later.
Then we get to this beauty:
"In a similar vein, social diversity is another important positive differentiator of democracy over autocracy. Incredibly, autocrats see social diversity as a weakness of the democracies. They are dead wrong. Apple Inc. is the world’s most valuable company (with a market cap of $2.5 trillion), and arguably the globe’s leading tech company. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, is gay, as are millions of people in all countries around the world, including the autocracies. Unlike the autocracies, which make life very dangerous—and sometimes impossible—for gay people (Russia passed yet another antigay law in 2022), over the past fifty years the democracies have welcomed gay people into the mainstream of their societies, where they are fully participating in science, technology, politics, business, culture, education, and civil society.
George S. Takach. Cold War 2.0 - Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle between China, Russia, and America (pp. XXII-XXIII). Kindle Edition. "
What does Tim Cook being gay have to do with ANYTHING? Apple was rebuilt by Steve Jobs and handed over to Cook when it was already massively successful. His "gayness" had nothing to do with its success.
But while we are on the topic of equality, he doesn't mention how the US had an executive order (10450) BANNING LGBTQIA+ members from federal jobs.
Perhaps the author can to a similar law under the "autocratic" governments?
How does he reconcile "we use to have a law prohibiting gays from government jobs" and "Tim cook is gay and that is what made apple successful"?
"
In 1927 Mao Zedong, China’s first communist autocratic dictator, said “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” He knew what he was talking about. Twenty-two years later his Chinese Communist Party (CCP) won China’s civil war and Mao became the supreme leader of the world’s most populous country. His current autocratic successor, Xi Jinping, would probably update Mao’s aphorism to “civilian and military power is generated by the semiconductor chip,” in response to the embargo certain democracies have placed on the export of semiconductor chips (SCs) to China.
George S. Takach. Cold War 2.0 - Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle between China, Russia, and America (p. XXIX). Kindle Edition.
"
It would have been enough to simply say Mao Zedong was the first communist, "autocratic dictator" modifers dont accomplish anything except add to the number of times he's used these words in this book.
I simply cant finish this propaganda peice.
June 21, 2024
A version of the new Cold War has been referred to on multiple occasions pointing to the tension between democracy states (primary being the USA) and autocracy states (key states are China and Russia). The book Cold War 2.0 gives a comprehensive write-up from the perspective of four technologies that will be the key factors in such confrontation, including artificial intelligence (AI); semiconductor chip (SC); quantum computing (QC); and biotechnology (BT), plus some peripheral technologies & industries relating to the four main ones. The author covered the four key technologies with comparison of industry; capacity; manufacturing; market size; and research (academic and industry) in each and between the democracy countries versus autocracy countries.
It is the last few chapters that are really interesting, which dive into two flashpoints where these technologies already or will come into play ... "War in Ukraine" and "Near War in Taiwan". The author has included his ideas of how to manage this new Cold War, which include reforms of the UN Security Council; expand NATO to GATO (Global Alliance Treaty"; sanction scenarios; and cyber attack retaliation etc. In addition, the democracies need to be more strengthened among themselves and not shy away from technological decouple with the autocracies.
It is the last few chapters that are really interesting, which dive into two flashpoints where these technologies already or will come into play ... "War in Ukraine" and "Near War in Taiwan". The author has included his ideas of how to manage this new Cold War, which include reforms of the UN Security Council; expand NATO to GATO (Global Alliance Treaty"; sanction scenarios; and cyber attack retaliation etc. In addition, the democracies need to be more strengthened among themselves and not shy away from technological decouple with the autocracies.
May 25, 2025
The election of Donald Trump in November 2024 sure threw this book a loop.
There are many repetitions but details are often missing, for instance the explanation of the choice of countries as permanent members of his imagined new and improved United Nations Security Council.
The majority of its content though, was very informative. The author is clearly in the capitalist “private is better than public” camp and at the time of writing, held the US in high regard. I would like to see how his opinion has shifted now, if at all.
“…without US engagement in Europe and Asia, Cold War 2.0 has a very different, and likely very bleak, ending for the democracies in these two regions.”
Let’s hope he’ll be proven wrong.
There are many repetitions but details are often missing, for instance the explanation of the choice of countries as permanent members of his imagined new and improved United Nations Security Council.
The majority of its content though, was very informative. The author is clearly in the capitalist “private is better than public” camp and at the time of writing, held the US in high regard. I would like to see how his opinion has shifted now, if at all.
“…without US engagement in Europe and Asia, Cold War 2.0 has a very different, and likely very bleak, ending for the democracies in these two regions.”
Let’s hope he’ll be proven wrong.
May 16, 2024
The take aways, all in the introduction: 1) The "outside date for the takeover of Taiwan in 2034." 2) "PLA could carry out a military invasion of the island or China could opt for blockading the island with the PLA's navy and air force in order to pressure Taiwan into submission." 3) "Taiwan only has eight days of energy stockpiled on island."
July 10, 2025
Interesting read, gained insights on some key international and technological issues. Some suggestions were quite naive and demonstrated a lack of understanding of how the current NATO Alliance actually functions.
April 1, 2025
Half this book went out the window when Donald Trump got reelected
June 9, 2025
Overall a good read and I recommend it. (It's more about geopolitics than AI.)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews