Bytes and Bullets: Global Rivalries, Private Tech and the Future of Modern Warfare

‘An obligatory read for anyone who wants to understand the new forces shaping the future.’ - Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer-prize winning, New York Times bestselling author of Autocracy, Inc. and Twilight of Democracy.

‘Couldn’t be more timely. Mixes story-telling and analysis to illuminate the new technological arms race.’ - Peter Pomerantsev author of Nothing is True and Everything is Possible

When it comes to global dominance, military technology has always been a major geopolitical driver. For decades, the West set the rules on innovation using soft power and government funding to develop its own exclusive cutting-edge defensive capabilities. But in the digital era, the breakthroughs – be it AI systems and autonomous drones, satellite internet or advanced semiconductors – are coming from private companies, not government labs.

In Bytes and Bullets, Steve Feldstein explains how technology is transforming geopolitics, upending the ways that countries compete, and how they wage war. Through captivating stories and original field research, he shows how the West’s dominance is being undercut at every turn by a combination of commercialization, authoritarian convergence led by China and Russia, and the emergence of new regional powers hungry for more influence.

A new tech cold war is coming into focus fast and restrictions and sanctions are no longer enough to maintain international stability. Feldstein reports from its front line in this rich and at times alarming account of this pivotal moment in history, making an urgent call for the West to act now, or risk losing its international standing forever.