“This penetrating study asks whether the actual evidence concerning alleged Russian interference in the US elections of 2016 justifies the enormous hue and cry it has elicited … A highly instructive inquiry into our current malaise.”
— Noam Chomsky

Cold War, Hot War upends conventional thinking about the defining story of the Trump era—the supposed threat of Russia to American democracy —and offers revelatory insight about the U.S. political and media culture in which it arose. Drawing on his writing for The Nation, Real Clear Investigations, The Grayzone, and original reporting for this book, journalist Aaron Mate offers a rigorous, and mordantly entertaining account of how and why supposed Russian interference in US elections became what Mother Jones described as "the biggest scandal in American history."

Russiagate reporting is a densely populated field. But, unlike other accounts, this book sidesteps the inflammatory speculation shared by Democrat and Republican talking points. Instead, Mate raises two questions that no major work has previously addressed: Do the facts about Russiagate match what we have been led to believe? And, if not, why has it become one of the biggest news stories of recent years?

Russiagate, Mate argues, is not a genuine "scandal" based on the merits, but a kind of Privilege Protection Racket: a product of the interests—and entrenched dysfunctions— of those in power. This is not some reverse conspiracy theory of "Deep State" subterfuge. Cold War, Hot War brilliantly exposes the way the Russiagate phenomenon reflects the common elite interests of both liberals and conservative. In short, Russiagate is a pathology of the privileged.

Aaron Maté is an NYC-based journalist and producer. He hosts the news show Pushback for The Grayzone, and writes regularly for The Nation. In 2019, he was awarded the Izzy Award for outstanding achievement in independent media from Ithaca College. Previously, he was a longtime producer at Democracy Now! and a producer at Al Jazeera English.

Aaron Mate's profile page

"A polite but dogged skeptic.” — Vanity Fair

“In the past years he’s probably done more than any one reporter to debunk Russiagate myths, and his most potent weapon has been doing the journalistic basics — reading public documents, and calling for comment.” — Matt Taibbi

“Almost alone among journalists, Aaron Mate's meticulous reporting … consistently challenged the way the public was being informed about the Mueller investigation and related issues.” — The Izzy Awards judges