Reddit reviews Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?
We found 4 Reddit comments about Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but I've heard good things about Graham Allison's book on the Thucydides Trap. It gives numerous examples of hegemonic rise and fall throughout history, and draws parallels to today's America against a rising China.
One of the hottest books of 2017 pop poli-sci was Graham Allison's The Thucydides Trap, the Harvard scholar and administrator's historical-parallel-illustrated discussion of whether or not China and the US can avoid a coming war, thus breaking the pattern of erupting military conflicts whenever "a rising power rivals a ruling power—as Athens challenged Sparta in ancient Greece, or as Germany did Britain a century ago." His linked 2015 Atlantic piece addresses the speculation about trade wars that you mentioned.
While flat-out military wars seem like impractical methods of resolving economic conflicts of interest with geopolitical rivals, I worry about some of the commentary re: North Korea (China's role, etc.) that I find extremely incendiary and almost demonizing in that sort of priming-domestic-citizens-for-a-war tone. I think a neutral "trade war"alone is a messy setup, but the Thucydides Trap book raises the additionally war-incentivizing problem of a shift in global economic power balance.
Fair enough, cheers for the recommendation though. Is this the book you’re referring to? If so I’ll try and give it a read soon.
https://www.amazon.com/Destined-War-America-Escape-Thucydidess-ebook/dp/B01IAS9FZY
Thoughts on Fukuyama? Should I look forward to your review of Destined for War by Graham Allison? edit: Kissinger reviewed it, as a reminder that he's still alive. And it got a blurb by Biden too.