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In a highly symbolic historical and geopolitical reference, Chinese President Xi Jinping brought the so-called "Thucydides Trap" back to the forefront during his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Beijing today.
Xi's remarks, at a time of intense competition between the world's two largest economies, have reignited debate about whether China's rise could lead to an inevitable conflict with the United States.
"Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new model of relations between major powers?" Xi Jinping asked before the start of talks with Trump, raising the question of whether the two countries can jointly address global challenges and bring more stability to the world.
The reference was not just a coincidence.
The "Thucydides Trap" has been one of the most discussed terms in international politics in recent years and is mainly used to describe the increasingly competitive relationship between Washington and Beijing.
The term was coined by American political scientist Graham T. Allison, a professor at Harvard University, who attempted to explain the dynamic that develops when a rising power threatens to displace a dominant superpower.
The theory is based on a famous quote by the ancient Greek historian Thucydides from his History of the Peloponnesian War: "The rise of Athens and the fear it inspired in Sparta made war inevitable."
Allison used the Athens-Sparta conflict as a historical example to argue that when a new power rises rapidly and challenges the supremacy of an already dominant power, the chances of war increase dramatically.
In his 2017 book "Destined for War," he argued that the United States and China are on a dangerous path toward confrontation, but he did not believe that a conflict was inevitable. According to a study conducted at Harvard's Belfer Center under Allison's leadership, in 12 of 16 historical cases where a rising power challenged a dominant power, the result was war.
However, the theory has been sharply criticized by many analysts and historians, who believe that modern international relations cannot be interpreted solely through historical analogies.
Regardless of the validity of Allison's theory, Xi Jinping's use of the term at today's crucial meeting, which is being watched by the entire planet, sends a clear political message: that China wants to present the confrontation with the US not as a one-way street, but as a historical test that can be avoided through diplomacy and understanding.
"Cooperation benefits both sides, while conflict harms both. We should be partners, not adversaries, we should help each other succeed, progress together, thus charting a new path of understanding between major powers in this new era," the Chinese president stressed immediately after the arrival of his American counterpart.
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