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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| Can the United States and Communist China escape the Thucydides's Trap? | |
| 2021-03-11 | |
| [belfercenter] A perilous trap but uncertain outcome Today, an irresistible rising China is on course to collide with an immovable America. The likely result of this competition was identified by the great historian Thucydides, who wrote: "It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable." But the point of Destined for War is not to predict the future but to prevent it. Escaping Thucydides’s Trap is not just a theoretical possibility. In four of the 16 cases, including three from the 20th century, imaginative statecraft averted war. Can Washington and Beijing steer their ships of state through today’s treacherous shoals? Only if they learn and apply the lessons of history.
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| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #10 Step 1: Stop feeding Goliath. |
| Posted by: Injun Chomomble7936 2021-03-11 19:06 |
| #9 Interesting discussions. I found these 'teasers' about the book at the link: A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE AN AMAZON "BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2017 SO FAR" and - If Hollywood were producing a movie about China and the US on a path to war, central casting could find no better American lead than Donald Trump. His insistence on “blaming China first” portends a blockbuster finale. I like the Rantburg discussion; hard pass on the book. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2021-03-11 17:06 |
| #8 Guess who bought a $300 million chunk of Dominion Voting Systems. |
| Posted by: Ulolump Grumble1426 2021-03-11 14:33 |
| #7 Should have just let Japan have their way in China back in the 1940s. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2021-03-11 14:26 |
| #6 In the 1950's when china helped North Korea Truman asked MacArthur what he would do. The general said invade China while they dont have the bomb. Interesting no? |
| Posted by: irish rage boy 2021-03-11 12:01 |
| #5 OK, I got my actors mixed up, but the point is, you don't have to go to war at all if you own the decision-makers of your enemy. |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2021-03-11 11:41 |
| #4 #1 Not an appropriate comparison. Sparta didn't buy half the Athenian government. Sparta = hegemon: USA Athens = rising challenger to the hegemon: China The Athenians produced brilliant philosophers orators and writers but politically, they were extraordinarily nasty. We have as much in common with Sparta as with Athens. We're rapidly becoming an oligarchy with a vast population of modern-day, UBI-receiving helots. |
| Posted by: Sletle Uloluse8319 2021-03-11 09:09 |
| #3 I think we're plainly at war with them already. 70,000 dead annually from fentanyl, constant theft of technology, a wide spread and aggressive infiltration into media and higher education kind of sounds a little mean. Their last time out of the gate with Vietnam didn't go so well, mainly exposing serious deficiencies and a very stubborn and hidebound approach that didn't prevail. Combine that with the logistics of it all and the smart move would be to build an internal military presence. That takes a hunk of pressure off their unemployment and single male pressure while simultaneously providing a magician's distraction so they can pursue war by other means. |
| Posted by: Cesare 2021-03-11 08:37 |
| #2 Valid point Merc, but could that be a..... 'distinction without a difference' ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2021-03-11 07:49 |
| #1 Not an appropriate comparison. Sparta didn't buy half the Athenian government. |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2021-03-11 07:47 |