SFC Dialogue | Graham Allison Says Intertwined Sino-US Relationship Requires Cooperation

南方财经全媒体记者吴斌 大连报道

The Sino-US relationship is facing some challenges and some people think Thucydides’ Trap is coming up likely in a cold way, but not in a hot way.

Graham Allison, the “Founding Dean” of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, had a Dialogue with SFC journalist recently. He said “Thucydides’ Trap conversation has advanced quite far. We are so intertwined that we may face some common challenges or common threats that require a degree of and manner of cooperation. I think that's actually a good idea and a productive area. ”

Central to Allison's work is the concept of the “Thucydides Trap”, a term he coined in his book, Destined for War. It refers to the precarious situation when an ascending power threatens to displace an established one—a situation that historically has often led to war.

Commenting on US presidential election, Allison emphasized that “the campaign is at a stage where it's very hard. Most Americans mostly agree that they are opposed to one of the other candidate. So it's a division between not enthusiasm for candidate A and B, but fear or abhorrence of candidate B rather than candidate A. ”

“You should think of the current campaign as a version of theater in which you shouldn't get confused by being literal about what people say,” he added. “On China, you can be certain that there will be extreme China bashing. But as I say to my Chinese friends, notice that however nasty either of them is about China, they will have something even nastier to say about their American opponents.”