Bloomberg: “When President Xi Jinping met US leader Donald Trump in Beijing on Thursday, he posed a big question: Can China and the US avoid the ‘Thucydides Trap’? It’s a phrase that sounds academic, but it goes to the heart of Beijing’s ambitions for their relationship.”
“The term was popularized by Harvard political scientist Graham Allison in the early 2010s, drawing on the ancient Greek historian Thucydides. His argument: when a rising power challenges an established one, conflict inevitably follows. Allison’s research found this pattern played out repeatedly across history and he used this framing as a lens to examine the US-China rivalry.”
“In simple terms, it’s about structural tension. China’s rise — economically, technologically and militarily — challenges America’s long-standing dominance as a world superpower. Even if neither side seeks confrontation, the risk is that competition itself creates pressure that’s hard to control.”
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