On Nov. 14 — days after U.S. President Donald Trump's trip to Beijing — the Center for Strategic and International Studies , one of the most prominent U.S. think tanks based in Washington, held a debate on the proposition of "a growing risk of war between the U.S. and China."
Graham Allison (a Harvard University professor and author of the book "Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?") was for the proposition and Evan Medeiros (managing director for Asia of Eurasia Group) was against it. When the debate ended, 51 percent of the audience voted their agreement with the proposition that the United States and China are moving toward war. Actually before the debate even started, 40 percent of the audience had already expressed their support for that argument.
Despite the small sample, the stunning result still hinted at a disturbing reality: a group of Americans, including some policy pundits, firmly believe that China and the U.S. are going to go to war, because of the so-called Thucydides's Trap — a theory, created and popularized by Allison, that claims war is the most likely result when a rising power confronts an established power.