Meanings
plural Thucydides traps · alternative Thucydides' trap
- An apparent tendency towards war when an emerging power threatens to displace an existing great power as a regional or international hegemon.
In a shot across the bow of hegemonic rivalry, Xi asked: “Can China and the United States transcend the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new paradigm for major-power relations?”
2026 May 15, Kate Lamb, “What is the Thucydides Trap and why did Xi Jinping mention it in his meeting with Donald Trump?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN1 more example
Even if a rising superpower (China) and a relatively declining superpower (the US) are not fated to fall into the “Thucydides trap” and go to war, periods of great power shifts almost invariably bring increased international tensions.
2025 May 10, Timothy Garton Ash, “Brace for disorder as the great global power shifts again”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9
Origin
An allusion to the ancient Athenian historian and military general Thucydides, who posited that the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta had been inevitable because of Spartan fears of the growth of Athenian power. Coined by American political scientist Graham T. Allison.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Thucydides trap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Thucydides%20trap
“Thucydides trap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Thucydides%20trap. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Thucydides trap,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Thucydides%20trap.
Source: Thucydides trap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.