Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?

Destined for War:

Can America and China

Escape Thucydides's Trap? 

By Graham Allison

Released Tuesday, May 30, 2017

In Destined for War, the eminent Harvard scholar Graham Allison explains why Thucydides’s Trap is the best lens for understanding U.S.-China relations in the twenty-first century. Through uncanny historical parallels and war scenarios, he shows how close we are to the unthinkable. Yet, stressing that war is not inevitable, Allison also reveals how clashing powers have kept the peace in the past — and what painful steps the United States and China must take to avoid disaster today.

Graham Allison is the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at Harvard Kennedy School, former Director of Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and the best-selling author of Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World; Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe; and Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis. Founding dean of the Harvard Kennedy School, Dr. Allison has served as Assistant Secretary of Defense and advised the secretaries of defense under every president from Reagan to Obama. He lives in Belmont, Massachusetts.