Traveling by different routes, in the 30 years since the end of the Cold War, Russia and China have ended up in broadly similar positions. The regimes that govern these two powers have managed to integrate into the global economy, enjoying the benefits of international trade and investment without evolving into true market-based economies or surrendering their grip on domestic political power. Indeed, to the contrary, since the turn of the century both the Russian and Chinese states have become more repressive and more militantly nationalistic, tightening their grip over society and the economy at home, while engaging in increasingly aggressive behavior on the international stage. As the authors of several of the chapters in this volume point out, in terms of their relative national power China and Russia appear to be following very different trajectories. In the long run, the former will likely be able to mount a far more serious challenge to the United States and its allies than the latter. Notwithstanding this divergence, there are still some notable similarities in the tactics and techniques that the two nations are currently employing in pursuit of their objectives. Developments in communications technology, and the vestiges of the failed policies of "enlargement" and "engagement," have left the economies, societies, and political systems of the Western nations open to penetration and manipulation, vulnerabilities that their authoritarian rivals have been quick to discover and exploit.

Foreword /Aaron L. Friedberg -- Acknowledgments -- Major Findings on Contemporary Great Power Competition -- Part I. Conceptualizing the New Era of Great Power Competition -- 1. Introduction / Thomas F. Lynch III -- 2. Past Eras of Great Power Competition: Historical Insights and Implications / Thomas F. Lynch III and Frank G. Hoffman -- 3a. Contemporary Great Power Geostrategic Dynamics: Relations and Strategies / Thomas F. Lynch III and Phillip C. Saunders -- 3b. Contemporary Great Power Geostrategic Dynamics: Competitive Elements and Tool Sets / Thomas F. Lynch III and Phillip C. Saunders -- 4. Contemporary Great Power Technological Competitive Factors in the Fourth Industrial Revolution / T.X. Hammes and Diane DiEuliis -- Part II. Warfighting, Innovation, and Technology in a New Era of Great Power Competition -- 5. Key Technologies and the Revolution of Small, Smart, and Cheap in the Future of Warfare / T.X. Hammes -- 6. Emerging Critical Information Technology and Great Power Competition / Richard Andres -- 7. Social Media and Influence Operations Technologies: Implications for Great Power Competition / Todd C. Helmus -- 8. Weapons of Mass Destruction, Strategic Deterrence, and Great Power Competition / Paul Bernstein, Justin Anderson, Diane DiEuliis, Gerald Epstein, and Amanda Moodie -- Part III. Geostrategic Interactions in a New Era of Great Power Competition -- 9. The Indo-Pacific Competitive Space: China's Vision and the Post-World War II American Order / Thomas F. Lynch III, James Przystup, and Phillip C. Saunders -- 10. Rogues, Disrupters, and Spoilers in an Era of Great Power Competition / Bryce Loidolt, Mariya Omelicheva, and James Przystup -- 11. Counterterrorism and the United States in a New Era of Great Power Competition / R. Kim Cragin, Hassan Abbas, Zachary M. Abuza, and Mariya Omelicheva -- 12. Whither Europe in a New Era of Great Power Competition? Resilient but Troubled / Steven Philip Kramer and Irene Kyriakopoulos -- 13. Competing Visions and Actions by China, Russia, and the United States in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Arctic / Bryce Loidolt, David /Douglas Farah, Shannon Smith, and Caitlyn Yates -- Part IV. Preparing to Compete -- 14. U.S. Strategies for Competing Against China / Frank G. Hoffman -- 15. Conclusion: Realities, Imperatives, and Principles in a New Era of Great Power Competition / Thomas F. Lynch III -- Appendix A. Selected Bibliography -- Appendix B. Contemporary Great Power Competition Dynamics Matrix (online only) -- List of Contributors -- Index.