A Book Review of Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?

Abstract

In his book "The Thucydides Trap", Graham Allison uses the works of the ancient Greek historian Thucydides on the Peloponnesian War to portray the increasing tensions between the United States and China as a typical example of a dominant power that is afraid of the advent of an emerging challenger. Allison, a prominent scholar at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, contends that the structural tensions that exist between the Pacific countries might easily result in military war similar to the one, that ensnared Athens and Sparta if there are no intentional measures made to promote peace and collaboration.