Destined for War

Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?

By: Graham Allison

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

War with China is much more likely than anyone thinks.

When Athens went to war with Sparta some 2,500 years ago, the Greek historian Thucydides identified one simple cause: A rising power threatened to displace a ruling one. As the eminent Harvard scholar Graham Allison explains, in the past 500 years, great powers have found themselves in "Thucydides's Trap" 16 times. In 12 of the 16 - from war between the French and the Habsburgs in the 16th century to the two world wars of the 20th - the results have been catastrophic. Today, the same structural forces propel China and the United States toward a cataclysm of unseen proportions, even as both sides insist that such a war could never occur.

In Destined for War, Allison compares the US-China conflict to its closest parallel: World War I. There, a rising Germany threatened the supremacy of the British Empire. He sketches several scenarios in which America and China might slide, against their intent and better judgment, into a similar conflict. But he also examines the rare instances when two clashing powers have avoided disaster. Can our current standoff be one of those exceptions? Allison's answer is essential listening for our age and ages to come.

©2017 Graham Allison (P)2017 Recorded Books

Learned a ton

I will never look at the US china, cool war, or WWII dynamics in the same way again. great book

insightful and visionary

This is the best book so far I have read/listened about Sino-US relationship. It is both insightful and visionary. It show a great balance of intellect and wisdom. A solid five star. I hope more people can read/listen to this book for better future of the nations.

Great place to start-

the basic theory of the ...trap gives the reader a lot of food for thought

Will listen again

Great insights, comparisons, enough backstory to fully understand the strategic narrative and tactical elements.

If you’ve 100 Year Marathon, this is a must listen. Greater scope, less fear mongering, and more world history rich.

Narrator was great IMO

Terrific read, a must

For anyone interested in relations between the US and China, read this book. Educates you and makes you think.

Breadth of research

Excellent book worthy of the top shelf of every home history library. Brought to focus the fragility of the age-old challenge of rising versus established powers.

I hope world leaders are reading this too

This is an excellent work! Written with an ideal blend of academic rigor and fast pacing, I had a hard time putting it down. This does a great job illustrating through the lessons of history what happens when great powers collide, and offers some hope of how to think through the competition to find ways to avoid a devastating war.

Decent reading

Book seemed well researched and narrator performed well. It does get a bit fanciful when discussing a hypothetical collision between US and Chinese naval vessels. Author jumps to conclusions as to what the actions of each nation would be. I had to skip that part because it was just absurd. Otherwise the history of the 16 rising powers as well as lots of data such as GDP figures etc. are incorporated into the narrative in a meaningful way.

crucial and well presented subject

For anyone interested in international affairs, this is an easy to follow, well researched, and supported work that lays out a broad concept of what challenges face nations as they interact with allies and competitors.

Depressing!

If you want to hear a lecture on how negative everything is and has been go ahead but I warned you.