Xi warned Trump against the ‘Thucydides Trap’ – here’s what ancient Greece can tell us about US-China relations

Thucydides recounted how rising power Athens challenged Sparta, resulting in a destructive 30-year war. Natalllenka.m/Shutterstock

In his opening remarks at his summit with Donald Trump on May 15, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, invoked the fifth-century BC Greek historian Thucydides to issue a veiled warning to the US president.

“The world has come to a new crossroads. Can China and the United States transcend the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new paradigm for major-power relations?”