* The Devil's Deal: Hitler's Pact with Satan (2003)
* Inside North Korea: Undercover in the World's Most Secret State (2006)
* Korea Endgame: A Strategy for Reunification (2007)
* North Korean Exodus: Testimonies of Escapees and Defectors (2010)
* Kim Jong Il: The Great Leader of North Korea (2011)
* The World Beyond Kim: Regime Collapse in North Korea (2012)
* The North Korea Crisis: What Will Happen If the Worst Comes to the Worst? (2013)
* The People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited (2014)
* Red Zone: Beijing, Tiananmen, and the Massacre That Changed the World (2015)
* China and North Korea: A Long-Complicated Friendship (2017)
* In the Dragon's Shadow: The Global Expansion of Chinese Influence (2019)
* Xi Jinping: The Most Powerful Man in the World (2021)
Articles
Ahlgren has written numerous articles for publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, The Economist, and The New Republic.