Overview
- At a dinner during his summit with Donald Trump, Xi Jinping cited the ‘Thucydides Trap’ and urged the United States and China to choose partnership over rivalry.
- Thucydides Trap refers to the risk that a rising power and an established hegemon slide into war, a framing popularized by scholar Graham Allison.
- Trump answered suggestions of American decline by saying any slump did not start under his two years in office but under previous administrations.
- Analysts pointed to a Harvard study that found 12 of 16 past great‑power transitions ended in war, highlighting the danger without sustained talks and guardrails.
- Peruvian columnists tied the summit’s signals to local stakes, noting a CEO‑heavy U.S. delegation as a business‑first message and warning that Peru’s political rifts could scare off investment as big‑power competition shapes the outlook.