Welcome to Office Hours. Come in! This is a regular subscribers-only column where I share what I’m reading and watching, and respond to questions from readers.
A scholar from China writes in response to my piece on the Thycidides Trap:
I’ve long been confused by the popularity of the concept, as well as Allison himself, in China’s policy and academic circles. The points you raise are great ones, which might indeed be some of the reasons the Chinese government talks about it so often. Let me also share some other potential drivers of that off the top of my head.
First, I think many in China, all the way to the top, genuinely feel the urgent need to respond to perceived influential Western discourses, especially those that may arguably hurt Chinese image. Thucydides trap, for example, is viewed as a) influential among American policy makers and think tankers; b) suggesting that China’s rise is not quite peaceful, and may even be highly confl…