Publishers Weekly
09/06/2021
Helberg, the former global lead for news policy at Google, debuts with a chilling study of how “techno-totalitarian” regimes are seeking to control the hardware and software of the internet. He documents the spread of fake news by Russia’s Internet Research Agency during the 2016 presidential election, and explains how advances in artificial intelligence, data collection, and “synthetic media,” or “deepfakes,” could make similar propaganda campaigns more disruptive and harder to spot. Even more threatening, in Helberg’s view, are China’s efforts to gain “back-end” control of the internet by manufacturing cellphones, building 5G networks, and influencing international standards and regulations. He also alleges that the Chinese company that owns TikTok has helped repress the country’s Uyghur Muslims, notes that TikTok videos could be used to refine facial recognition algorithms to better surveil non-Asians, and cites researchers who believe the app is collecting an “abnormal” amount of data from its users. Though Helberg’s call for democratic nations to form a “compact to resist authoritarian aggression and subversion” is on-point, his argument that breaking up Big Tech would threaten U.S. national security is less persuasive. Still, this is an informative and often harrowing wake-up call. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
An analytical tour de force on the rapidly increasing challenge of techno-authoritarian nations to our national security, our economy, and our democracy. The US and its allies are taking steps to address the threat but as Helberg’s analysis makes clear, we have to defend our security and values with urgency, determination, and strategic clarity for as long as it takes.” —President Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
“A prescient analysis of China’s technological ambitions to export its political influence and erode democracy around the world. If you’re interested in how technology is reshaping international politics, this book is a must read.” —Ro Khanna, United States Congressman
“Important and urgent." —Cory Booker, United States Senator
“A very strong comprehensive picture of the US-China technological rivalry and a rare blend of foreign policy and technology expertise. Those passionate about the future of US security and the free world should carefully consider the author’s argument.” — Michael McCaul, United States Congressman
“A chilling study of how 'techno-totalitarian' regimes are seeking to control the hardware and software of the internet . . . This is an informative and often harrowing wake-up call.” —Publishers Weekly
“Unnervingly convincing evidence that time is running out in the 'gray war' with the enemies of freedom.” —Kirkus Reviews
“The battle for the future is being waged at the intersection of technology and geopolitics. That is where Jacob Helberg lives. He is a rare bird: a Silicon Valley veteran with a deep understanding of world politics and the struggle between the liberal democratic world and the rising forces of authoritarianism. In graceful and entertaining prose, Helberg paints a vivid and at times frightening picture, but not without hope that free societies will rise to the occasion. Those looking for a guide to the dangers and opportunities of this brave new world need look no further.” —Robert Kagan, author of The Jungle Grows Back
“Wires of War is a bracing book about an urgent problem—the rise of an authoritarian techno-bloc that is trying to roll back the frontiers of digital freedom. Jacob Helberg explains the interplay of technology and geopolitics in sharp, lucid prose. This book should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand one of the defining challenges of our time.” —Hal Brands, author of The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Can Teach Us About Great-Power Rivalry Today
Kirkus Reviews
2021-08-25
Disturbing news about the wireless world.
Helberg, senior adviser at the Stanford University Center on Geopolitics and Technology, spent four years at Google trying to eliminate disinformation from its search engine. In the process, he discovered that world autocracies, led by Russia and China, are conducting a cyberwar with democracies, and winning. In 2016, “on election night, the trolls in St. Petersburg popped champagne, toasted one another, and crowed, ‘We made America great.’ ” Helberg reminds readers that, 20 years ago, pundits proclaimed that the internet’s unstoppable freedom of expression would destroy autocracies. Few say that now. The internet has instead accelerated “truth decay,” where the click of a mouse supports any outlandish opinion. Those who suspect that illegal immigrants started this summer’s forest fires need only search for the terms “forest fires” and “immigrants” to discover that they have plenty of misinformed company. Though the U.S. has largely controlled the internet’s expansion, builds most of the storage and transmission infrastructure, and makes the rules, its leadership days are numbered. China’s Huawei, by far the world’s largest telecom company, dominates 5G, the revolutionary successor to today’s network that will vastly accelerate data and phone transmission. Furthermore, Chinese manufacturers make “a staggering 90 percent of the world’s mobile phones.” In his how-to-fix-it conclusion, the author emphasizes that America’s “digital defense of democracy” must become a national security priority. The U.S. must also establish a “Western 5G alternative,” massively increase technical aid to developing countries, and promote cyber sanctions to protect the free internet. Helberg is entirely correct in his assessment that this will require overhauling science and engineering education and expanding government-business cooperation, all of which will lead to a modern “Sputnik moment” similar to that following the 1957 Soviet satellite launch, which ended in triumph when the U.S. landed an astronaut on the moon.
Unnervingly convincing evidence that time is running out in the “gray war” with the enemies of freedom.
