China, US and manifest destinies

Book review of 'Destined For War: Can America and China Escape the Thucydides Trap?'

Destined For War: Can America and China Escape the Thucydides Trap?

Graham Allison

Houghton Mifflin

364 pages; Rs 1,864

Historical analogy is an effective tool for analysing contemporary international relations and Graham Allison, the well-known Harvard professor, is certainly adept in its use. He coined the phrase “Thucydides Trap” to highlight the tensions that are generated when an emerging power challenges an established one; more often than not, these tensions seem to lead inexorably to war, even when neither side wants war. The historical analogy goes back to the 5th century BC when ancient Sparta, the established power, went to war with