What is 'Thucydides trap,' mentioned during Trump-Xi meeting?
Key takeaways
- Xi asked if both countries can overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of major country relations? according to CNBC, citing the Chinese-based outlet CCTV.
- The concept of a Thucydides Trap, popularized in the early 2010s by Harvard University political scientist Graham Allison, borrows the name of ancient Athenian historian Thucydides.
- Thucydides wrote about the concept in his late 5th century B.C. text about ancient Greece s two city-states, History of the Peloponnesian War.
Why this matters: political developments that affect policy direction and public trust.
Xi asked if both countries can overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of major country relations? according to CNBC, citing the Chinese-based outlet CCTV. The Chinese president has used the term as far back as 2014, Bloomberg reported.
Xi also warned Trump about tensions between both countries over Taiwan, arguing that Taiwan independence and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning wrote on the social platform X.
The concept of a Thucydides Trap, popularized in the early 2010s by Harvard University political scientist Graham Allison, borrows the name of ancient Athenian historian Thucydides. Allison s concept postulates that the threat of war exists when tensions rise between a rising power and a ruling power before ultimately leading to conflict.