Avoiding the Great Confrontation: What This Summit Really Means for Global Stability The high stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping has kicked off in Beijing, bringing to the forefront a question that has long been whispered about in diplomatic circles: can these two rising powers avoid the "Thucydides Trap"?
The concept, coined by Harvard professor Graham Allison, refers to the historically fraught relationship between a rising power and an established one, where tensions often escalate into war.
The Thucydides Trap is not just a theoretical construct; it's a pattern that has played out time and again throughout history.