Photo: Alamy
During talks with President Donald Trump in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested that the two nations run the risk of falling into the “Thucydides Trap.”
“The whole world is watching our meeting,” Xi said, via translated remarks this week, amid opening talks with President Trump and members of the American cabinet.
“Currently, transformation not seen in a century is accelerating across the globe, and the international situation is fluid and turbulent,” Xi continued. “The world has come to a new crossroads. Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of major country relations?”
As reported by RSBN, the Thucydides Trap refers to a political theory coined by political scientist Graham Allison. Rooted in the history of the Peloponnesian War, Greek historian Thucydides, who recorded this conflict between Athens and Sparta, noted: “What made war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta.”
Allison’s theory asserts that there is a high likelihood of war when one rising power threatens to eclipse an established power.
President Xi, in his comments, seemed to be suggesting that America’s power is waning as the global hegemon, while China’s power simultaneously rises, therefore precariously setting both nations on the path to conflict.
“Can we meet global challenges together and provide more stability for the world?” Xi asked in his comments. “Can we, in the interests of the well-being of our two peoples and the future of humanity, build a brighter future for our bilateral relations? These are the questions vital to history, to the world, and to the people; they are the questions of our times that you and I need to answer as leaders of major countries.”
Conservative commentator Jack Posobiec weighed in on Xi’s comments on Thursday, telling Steve Bannon’s “War Room” that the Chinese president’s opening comments, made in the presence of the United States President, were meant to send a message.
“He’s referring to the United States as the fading hegemon and China as the rising power,” Posobiec analyzed.
Bannon remarked, “For Xi to say that, and remember, those were his opening remarks…to mention Thucydides Trap in the opening couple of minutes is about as ‘in your grill’ as you can get.”
