When Pericles Met Goujian: Forestalling the Star-Crossed Future of Ancient Greek and Chinese "Traps"
Abstract
As the United States reorients from its unipolar moment and returns to great power competition, the Peoples Republic of China has already entrenched along asymmetric axes prescribed within its "Three Warfares". A war of words is also well underway. Critical discourse analysis of the two great powers recent strategic communique arguably corroborates Graham Allison's concerns. Still, his Thucydides Trap hypothesis offers insufficient explanatory power regarding the existential hazards of imminent East-West confrontation. US ethnocentrism, exacerbated by Allison's conjuring of Hellenic parallels, introduces biases that may overlook Chinese strategic culture and its underwritten narrative. Examining the documents and speeches as strategic internal communications directed at the Chinese population rather than as wholly international rhetoric reveals an even more ominous trajectory. Multifaceted critical discourse analysis of the ongoing Indo-Pacific dialectic reveals an influential and compelling historical Chinese narrative relating to the ancient conflict between Goujian of Yue and Fuchai of Wu that invokes deep allegorical power foretelling a vengeful quest. Recent bellicose rhetoric from the US has amplified the effectiveness and provided proverbial ammunition for the domestic Chinese narrative, but the United States can mitigate the risk of unwittingly triggering war and evading the Zhao Ye Trap by forging a path towards mutual understanding.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 26, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1154037
Entities
People
- Keith W. Benedict
Organizations
- National Defense University