Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation-Book review:

Book review: "Deconstructing Thucydides' trap"

High strategic and geopolitical competition between the US and China.

The Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation and the University of Piraeus organize a presentation of the new book by Athanasios Platias and Vasilis Trigas, Deconstructing Thucydides’ trap. High strategic and geopolitical competition between the USA and China, by Diavlos Publications, on Thursday, February 8, at 18.30, at the Historical Library of the Foundation.

What are the strategic consequences of China’s rapid economic growth over the past forty years?  What led to the change in the post-war balance of forces? How likely is a war between China and the US today?

To answer these crucial questions, many analysts invoke Thucydides’ timeless wisdom. Unfortunately, the recent misconception with the popular name “Thucydides’ Trap” has led analysts and politicians to blurt but erroneous parallels between the Peloponnesian War and modern Sino-American relations.

The new book by Athanasios Platias and Vasilios Trigas deconstructs the reasoning of the “Thucydides Trap”, which is wrongly based on the logic of inevitable escalation. At the same time, following the complex logic of the Thucydidean approach, it presents 7 crucial strategic analogies with Sino-American relations.

Athanasios Platias is Professor of Strategy at the University of Piraeus and Vasilios Trigas is Visiting Assistant Professor of International Politics at Schwartzman College, Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Speakers:

Prokopios Pavlopoulos, Honorary Professor, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Academician, former President of the Republic.

Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos, Professor, Panteion University, former Minister.

Konstantina Botsiou, Professor and Dean, University of Piraeus.

Panagiotis Roumeliotis, Professor Emeritus, Panteion University, former Minister, former Member of the European Parliament.

Moderated by Marilena Koppa, Professor, Panteion University, former Member of the European Parliament.

(presentation conducted in greek)