But it is possible we may talk ourselves into one. This is more complicated than a contest for power. A different perspectiveДЄs in Ancient Greece, simple answers today are misleading. As political scientist Richard Lebow has said, Sparta believed 'it could overwhelm the Athenians in a single battle'. Some historians argue that if Sparta truly feared a more powerful Athens it would have invaded sooner. There had already been some slave uprising. It worried that the spread of Athenian style democracy would spark a slave revolt. Then, as now, it was about the economy and politics and as much about identity as power: who represented the soul and future of Greece? Thucydides himself said it was unclear what were the immediate causes of the war between Sparta and Athens. Read moreД«ut power transition doesn't explain the complexities of this age any more than it did in Ancient Greece. But inВ making a case for legitimising Chinese power KeatingВ risks defending a potentially rogue leader. He argues China seeks and deserves respect. Paul Keating is not an apologist for Chinese authoritarianism but a cold-eyed realist about Chinese power. He gave us what has become known in international relations as the Thucydides Trap: when a rising power meets a waning power, war becomes inevitable. The Greek historian of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, popularised the idea of the shifting balance of power lighting the fuse for conflict.

Certainly, the Athenians had grown strong since the time when Athens and Sparta united to defeat the Persians. The common belief is that Sparta feared Athens' risingВ power. In Ancient Greece,В the two great powers, Athens and Sparta, went to war - why? How do we understand this age? For many, the answers lie in the deep past. Rhetoric is more heated threat and counter-threat military build-up - and increasingly there is talk of war. In recent years the geopolitical temperature has risen. Not to ignore the importance of those bodies and alliances, nor diminish the power of individual states - especially the likes of Russia, India, Japan, France, Germany, and the UK - but we are all pulled along in the wake of Beijing and Washington. The two superpowers have greater sway than the G8, the G20, AUKUS, the Quad, ASEAN, APEC or any other multilateral acronym we may think of. Whether it is climate change, international trade, or the future of world peace, the US and China are pivotal. This week's virtual meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping has reminded us again that the two big powers hold between them the fate of our world.Д¬an they work together? Have we entered a new Cold War? Will it turn into outright conflict?

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