The novel opens with President Jack Ryan facing an Asian economic collapse and an unstable Russia, where someone has tried to kill the chairman of the SVR with a rocket-propelled grenade. The foreign intelligence service's roots in the KGB leave political, criminal, and personal motives in play while Ryan's trusted personnel head to Moscow. At the same time, Chinese leaders pursue an audacious plan whose success or failure could transform the international order. The later resource campaign grows from linked economic pressure, Russian vulnerability, and Chinese strategic choice.
Chapter · 8:30-9:16
Russian instability and Chinese ambition set the crisis in motion
An Asian economic collapse, an attempted assassination in Russia, and an audacious Chinese plan create the linked crises behind the novel.