Geopolitics

Xi Invokes Thucydides Trap Warning in US-China Reset

Saturday, May 16, 2026

Xi Jinping explicitly referenced the historical Thucydides Trap in meetings with Trump, warning that the US and China are "too big to fight" while calling for a "new era" of cooperation. The deliberate invocation of this academic framework signals both leaders are attempting to manage great power competition through structured rivalry rather than confrontation.

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The conceptual shift from strategic competition to "managed rivalry" could fundamentally alter global alliance structures and economic blocs.

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