Books

For two centuries, rapid growth helped countries prosper and made political bargains easier to sustain. That era is ending. When expectations of progress collide with economic slowdown, people experience the change as loss—and loss makes struggles for power more bitter.

This book explores how the end of easy growth is reshaping politics within countries and competition between them, and what the emerging world order may look like.

Great powers can become most dangerous when they are strong enough to challenge the existing order but fear that time is no longer on their side.

With Hal Brands, Beckley explains why China’s mounting pressures may make it less competitive over the long run—and more explosive in the near term. The book examines this narrowing window of opportunity and how the United States and its allies can navigate it.

GDP rankings tell us how big countries are, not how much power they can actually wield. Unrivaled develops new ways to compare national assets and liabilities—and shows how those distinctions change our understanding of the U.S.–China balance.

Beckley argues that the United States has enduring advantages that, if used wisely, can sustain its position as the world’s sole superpower. The book traces the economic, military, and political forces that will shape the balance of power.