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NATIONAL BESTSELLER | NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR. From an eminent international security scholar, an urgent examination of the conditions that could produce a catastrophic conflict between the United States and China -- and how it might be prevented.

China and the United States are heading toward a war neither wants. The reason is Thucydides's Trap: when a rising power threatens to displace a ruling one, violence is the likeliest result. Over the past five hundred years, these conditions have occurred sixteen times; war broke out in twelve.

At the time of publication, an unstoppable China approached an immovable America, and both Xi Jinping and Donald Trump promised to make their countries "great again," the seventeenth case was looking grim -- it still is. A trade conflict, cyberattack, Korean crisis, or accident at sea could easily spark a major war.

In Destined for War, eminent Harvard scholar Graham Allison masterfully blends history and current events to explain the timeless machinery of Thucydides's Trap -- and to explore the painful steps that might prevent disaster today.

SHORT-LISTED FOR THE 2018 LIONEL GELBER PRIZE
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: FINANCIAL TIMES * THE TIMES (LONDON)* AMAZON

"Allison is one of the keenest observers of international affairs around." -- President Joe Biden

"[A] must-read book in both Washington and Beijing." -- Boston Globe

"[Full of] wide-ranging, erudite case studies that span human history... [A] fine book." -- New York Times Book Review

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  • We started tracking this book on May 31, 2017.
  • This book was $15.99 when we started tracking it.
  • The price of this book has changed 36 times in the past 3,109 days.
  • The current price of this book is $7.99 last checked 3 hours ago.
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  • The lowest price to date was $1.99 last reached on October 3, 2025.
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  • The highest price to date was $18.99 last reached on July 6, 2025.
  • This book has been $18.99 3 times since we started tracking it.

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Additional Info

  • Publication Date: May 30, 2017
  • Text-to-Speech: Disabled
  • Lending: Disabled
  • Print Length: 389 Pages
  • File Size: 46 KB

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