Thucydides Resurrected: Confrontation Between the US and China for Global Dominance

Abstract

States pursue their own interests in international relations. Contemporary politics portrays the US and China as jostling against each other. The rise of China has dithered other smaller nations over whether to adhere to the hegemony of the US or not. Thucydides considered a rising power as a potential threat to the hegemony of superpowers, and such contestation eventually led to war. This article strives to bridge the current US-China contestation with the rivalry between Athens and Sparta and by drawing parallels from other case studies from the past. The initial portion of this article will discuss the US-China rivalry under the domain of prominent theories of international relations, such as realism and power transition theory. Second, it aims to unearth the potential reasons behind the contestation of these two large players. Third, it will focus on the strategic insights of Thucydides and its relevance to the current US-China rivalry. The last section of this article critically analyses the rise of China.