The Most Anticipated Books of the Year

Statecraft and foreign policy shape international affairs, but so do ideas—even in our so-called postliterate age. That’s why we’re always eager to scour catalogs of forthcoming books to identify the titles that are likely to influence how practitioners, scholars, and analysts approach their work in the coming year. Here are 30 big upcoming releases in our field in 2026, from treatises on the new world economic order to firsthand accounts of some of the greatest conflicts of our time. January Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage Alfred W. McCoy (Haymarket Books, 608 pp. $34.95,…