The Coming Storm, Odd Arne Westad
The Coming Storm, Odd Arne Westad
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The Coming Storm
Power, Conflict, and Warnings from History

Author: Odd Arne Westad

Narrator: Brian Troxell

Unabridged: 6 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/03/2026


Synopsis

A Foreign Policy most anticipated book of the year

From a renowned Yale historian comes a chilling look at the looming threat of the next Great Power war and the urgent interventions necessary to avoid it in the twenty-first century.

The vast majority of people alive today have come of age in a world of remarkable stability, presided over by either one or two Superpowers. This is not to say the world has been peaceful; but it has, to a great extent, been predictable. As an increasing number of Great Powers jostle for regional supremacy, as well as competitive advantage in nuclear technology, artificial intelligence, space exploration, and trade, our world has become more fragile, unpredictable—and combustible. The outbreak of global war among today’s Great Powers seems increasingly likely. Such war, as Odd Arne Westad powerfully argues in this urgent book, would be of a magnitude and devastation never before seen.

To understand the threats that face us in this complex new terrain, we must look to the lessons of the past, and especially the late nineteenth and early twentieth century—a time when Great Powers clashed and sought regional dominance, nationalism and populism were on the rise, and many felt that globalization had failed them; a time when tariffs increased, immigration and terrorism were among the biggest issues of the day, and a growing number of people blamed the citizens of other countries for their problems. A time, in other words, that carries eerie parallels with our own.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company

About Odd Arne Westad

Odd Arne Westad is the Elihu Professor of History and Global Affairs at Yale University. He is a scholar of modern international and global history, with a specialization in the history of eastern Asia since the eighteenth century. Westad is the author of The Global Cold War, which won the Bancroft Prize, and Restless Empire, winner of the Asia Society Book Award. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Logan on October 06, 2025

Spoilers: Wars will happen. This book is two things: an analysis of the lead up to World War I, specifically with an interest to how the multi-polar "Great Powers" political situation caused it to come about, and a look at our contemporary world and how it seems that the world is moving once again in......more

Goodreads review by Lucille on March 21, 2026

I am reminded from a line from a professor I studied African Politics under: "Liberals love studying World War Two. Realists love World War One. And for the rest of the world, everything is not always Austria-Hungary or Czechoslovakia." A history of the First World War, then used as an analogy of our......more

Goodreads review by Beth on March 21, 2026

Interesting book but very history based where current events and past events are compared. Great at helping fill in the dots for those who may not remember what triggered passed wars, how alliances have changed jn the past 200 years, and what the future could look like. It did require a lot of focus......more

Goodreads review by Bill A on March 05, 2026

Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways While I cannot refute the author being a renowned Yale historian and professor as described on the book’s back cover, I’m hard pressed to find much evidence of such in The Coming Storm itself. Unfortunately, the book all too often reads like a......more

Goodreads review by Bruce on April 04, 2026

The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, and Warnings from History By Odd Arne Westad 2026 Reviewed by Bruce W. Bean Odd Arne Westad is a distinguished diplomatic historian, and The Coming Storm arrives with the authority of that reputation. At roughly 220 pages — a fast four-hour read — it promises a recko......more


Quotes

"Odd Arne Westad makes the case that the world we are entering bears striking similarities to that of the late 19th and early 20th Century, as Britain's hegemony began to give way and a rising Germany sought its place in the sun. Historical analogies are usually difficult to sustain, but Westad brings so much erudition, intelligence, and insight to the table that he pulls it off! This is a short book on a big subject that will make you think long after you put it down."
—Fareed Zakaria, author of Age of Revolutions

"This may be the most important book you read this year. The Great Power peace of the last 80 years is ending as the U.S., China, Russia and others compete for global power. Yale historian Arne Westad traces history's lessons that may help us to prevent a future great power war."
—Nicholas Burns, Harvard Kennedy School Professor and former U.S. Ambassador to China

“Odd Arne Westad, a preeminent historian of modern China and its international role, has written a passionate and informed warning about the very real prospects today for great-power war in light of the origins of World War I. But he recognizes analogies need not be fate and proposes policies needed to avert catastrophe. Can we and our leaders walk the knife-edge?”
—Charles S. Maier, professor emeritus of history, Harvard University

"The Coming Storm is an urgent and insightful book that speaks directly to the current moment. Odd Arne Westad offers a timely wake-up call about the risks we face as global tensions rise. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand where the world may be headed and how we might still change course."
—Stephen Hadley, former US National Security Adviser