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

Graham Allison
Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School
Niall Ferguson
Senior Facutly Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Senior Fellow, Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Samantha Power
United States Ambassador to the United Nations (2013-2017)
Founding Executive Director, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
2003 Pulitzer Prize for “A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide
Arne Westad (Moderator)
S.T. Lee Professor of U.S.-Asia Relations, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School

Moderator Arne Westad, S.T. Lee Professor of U.S.-Asia Relations, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, was joined onstage Wednesday night by Graham Allison, Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Niall Ferguson, Senior Faculty Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and Samantha Power, United States Ambassador to the United Nations (2013-2017), to discuss the future of U.S-Chinese relations.

The panelists began by providing historical context for U.S-Chinese relations. referencing the theories of Thucydides as well as recent economic and military evolutions of the two countries. Finally, the panelists took questions from the audience regarding the changing dynamics of the two superpowers, the future of diplomatic negotiations, and the ramifications of Thucydides Trap and a potential security dilemma.