• LeeeroooyJeeenkiiins [none/use name, any]@hexbear.net
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    2 months ago

    Well, yeah, it seems to be a term literally made up to refer precisely to the U.S. and China

    I had to google it because there’s no way there’s a commonly known greek myth about some dude named Thucydides that ive never heard of. Yeah, there isn’t, it’s just some greek nerd who said “sparta got mad jelly so war was inevitable” and some nerd in the 2010s applied the same logic to the U.S. and China and called it “thucydides trap” like it’s an actual thing that has ever been referred to, ever, outside of this context

    • OrnluWolfjarl@lemmygrad.ml
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      2 months ago

      If you have the time, do read Thucidides account of the Peloponnesian war. It’s a short read, and it accurately portrays what happens when a superpower tries to bully everybody else. It’s considered one of the first applications of modern historical analysis. Thucidides disregards propaganda from one side or the other and follows the chain of events, the actions, and the reasoning of either side, which made war inevitable.

      https://classics.mit.edu/Thucydides/pelopwar.1.first.html

    • Carl [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      2 months ago

      Yeah we didn’t need a special phrase to say “imperial hegemons will attempt to cling to their power when it is threatened”