By Zachary Keck
With a series of senior-level meetings between China and the U.S. taking place this summer, various scholars and media outlets have returned to the question of whether the two countries can avoid the Thucydides Trap— a reference to the historian’s observation that the real cause of the Peloponnesian War was the rise of Athenian power and the fear this sparked in the established power of the day, Sparta.
For years now, the Thucydides Trap has been invoked repeatedly by observers contemplating the future trajectory of Sino-American relations. Although it may be someday be a useful comparison for U.S.-China relations, currently it better fits Sino-Japanese relations.
Indeed, the two countries have been at loggerheads for nearly a year now ever since Japan announced that it was going to purchase some the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. The national government defended this decision as necessary to prevent the nationalistic Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara from following through threat to purchase some of the islands, a defense that has done little to ease China’s concerns over the provocation.
Read the full story at The Diplomat