SATISH SHARMA - not just Rotigraphy.: this is the true snapshot of the contemporary West. China using Greek classics to discuss multipolar balance. The United States responding with memes, trade threats, and wrestling slogans.

https://x.com/AlexSabetti/status/2054892661119562211

Alexandro Sabetti

Translated from Italian

Xi Jinping quoting Thucydides to Donald Trump is one of the most surreal contemporary images of recent years. On one side, China's millennial diplomacy, which reasons through symbols, philosophy, historical references, and strategic patience. On the other, Trump, who probably thought Thucydides was a new Texan steakhouse brand or a Serbian NBA player.
To get the point: the “Thucydides Trap” is the theory according to which, when an emerging power threatens to replace the dominant one, the risk of war becomes almost inevitable. Thucydides wrote it while recounting the conflict between Sparta and Athens: “It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this caused in Sparta that made war inevitable.” Today the parallel is evident: China rising, the United States as the dominant power in strategic paranoia.
Now imagine Xi, with a Confucian tone and the air of an imperial mandarin, explaining the concept during the summit. And Trump listening with serious nods for ten seconds, before asking if “Thucydides” voted Republican or if he produces better tariffs than the Chinese ones.
The scene is metaphysical. Xi talks about the historical balance of civilizations, Trump thinks about hamburgers, coyotes to machine-gun at the border, and Truth Social posts written like messages sent at three in the morning after six cans of Diet Coke: “KISS MY A#S!!!”.
And this is the true snapshot of the contemporary West. China using Greek classics to discuss multipolar balance. The United States responding with memes, trade threats, and wrestling slogans.
ps: anyway, with  @kulturjam
  we're always ahead. On the "Thucydides Trap" and its variants, thanks to the insight of the good professor @PvPmedievalist
 , we wrote an entire chapter of the volume "Gli analfoliberali" (link in the comments).
#trump #xijinping #cina #storia