The Conversation
International · 25 days ago
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What is the ‘Thucydides trap’ Xi warned Trump about? Lessons from an ancient war between Athens and Sparta
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During a Beijing meeting between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, the Chinese president referenced the 'Thucydides trap'—a concept popularised by US political scientist Graham Allison describing how an established superpower and rising power can drift toward conflict, drawing from ancient Athens-Sparta tensions.
What is the ‘Thucydides trap’ Xi warned Trump about? Lessons from an ancient war between Athens and Sparta
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During their high-stakes meeting in Beijing this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly asked US President Donald Trump if the two countries could overcome the “Thucydides trap”.
This phrase, popularised by contemporary US political scientist Graham Allison in the early 2010s, is used to describe how two countries can drift toward war when an existing superpower feels anxious about an emerging one. Allison had China and the US in mind specifically.
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