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Cat 5
- Author
- Bing West
- Narrator
- Jason Culp
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 7 July 2026
- Run Time
- 6 hours 41 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
Learn from losing three wars—or lose the next one in 2033.
Bing West is the only historian to serve on the front lines in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan—and at the highest levels of government. He fought in the battles he writes about, and he explains with firsthand insight why our grunts won the fights, but our presidents lost the wars. The cause, he argues, was hubris. Presidents and policymakers believed the nation was too powerful to fail. That same conceit now threatens America itself. Our elected leaders have hollowed out the military while expanding entitlements to buy votes. The result is a weakened defense and a debt approaching collapse.
By 2033, two forces—our unsustainable debt and China’s ambition—will collide in a Category 5 storm. Drawing on six decades of combat and policy experience, West shows how America arrived at this perilous moment and how to deal with a disaster of our own making. Cat 5: The 2033 War is a soldier’s warning and a historian’s verdict—an unflinching account of national pride, political failure, and the storm closing in. For the first time in our history, we face economic convulsion and confrontation with a mortal adversary—before a single shot is fired.
Critics Review
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“A tour de force. Historian, decorated Marine, and renowned journalist Bing West delivers a brilliant autopsy of America’s military dilemmas, why battlefield victories collapsed into strategic defeat, unable to translate tactical victories into strategic resolution and advantage. Blending frontline experience with hard analysis, he shows how Washington’s misdirection and towering debt invite Chinese aggression.”
Victor Davis Hanson, author of The Second World Wars
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“In Cat 5, Bing West nails the defining challenge of our time: deterring Chinese Communists abroad while avoiding a debt crisis at home. Drawing from decades of personal experience on the battlefield and in the halls of power, he has a dire warning about how Washington’s fiscal fecklessness is hobbling the military and inviting China to launch World War III. Required reading for patriotic Americans serious about tackling the debt and waging deterrence like the fate of the free world depends on it—because it does.”
Mike Gallagher, former Chairman of the House Select Committee on China and Head of Defense at Palantir Technologies
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“I evaluate risk for a living, and Cat 5 rocked me. Bing West shows how Washington lost the wars—and why, when our debt breaks and buyers step back—which they most certainly will—China will strike. Ignore this book at your peril.”
Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money and Squawk on the Street
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Bing West
- Narrator
- Jason Culp
- Duration
- 6 hours 41 minutes
- Release Date
- 7 July 2026
- ISBN
- 9798228963313
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- History of the Americas, Biography: historical, political and military, True war and combat stories, Politics and government
Synopsis
Learn from losing three wars—or lose the next one in 2033.Bing West is the only historian to serve on the front lines in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan—and at the highest levels of government. He fought in the battles he writes about, and he explains with firsthand insight why our grunts won the fights, but our presidents lost the wars. The cause, he argues, was hubris. Presidents and policymakers believed the nation was too powerful to fail. That same conceit now threatens America itself. Our elected leaders have hollowed out the military while expanding entitlements to buy votes. The result is a weakened defense and a debt approaching collapse.By 2033, two forces—our unsustainable debt and China’s ambition—will collide in a Category 5 storm. Drawing on six decades of combat and policy experience, West shows how America arrived at this perilous moment and how to deal with a disaster of our own making. Cat 5: The 2033 War is a soldier’s warning and a historian’s verdict—an unflinching account of national pride, political failure, and the storm closing in. For the first time in our history, we face economic convulsion and confrontation with a mortal adversary—before a single shot is fired.
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