Pak-China-US triangle: Xi's 'Thucydides Trap' remark signals shift in global power dynamics

Dawn, Pakistan's leading English-language newspaper, analyzes the strategic implications of President Xi Jinping's use of the 'Thucydides Trap' during President Trump's visit to China. This invocation is seen as a significant signal of Beijing's evolving global ambitions, moving beyond its established role as a leader of the Global South towards actively contesting and shaping the future international order. For Pakistan, situated at the crossroads of great-power competition, this shift carries profound consequences, impacting regional strategic realignments and economic dependencies. The 'Thucydides Trap,' a historical pattern suggesting conflict when a rising power challenges an established one, was deployed by Xi as a calculated message to Washington. It implies a Chinese perception of the US as a declining power struggling to maintain an order that primarily served its own interests. China's increasing confidence stems from its economic ascendancy, having become a manufacturing and trading hub across Eurasia and the Global South, directly challenging the post-1945 US-led order. While the US retains advantages in finance, technology, and military alliances, the future points towards a bipolar system defined by sustained US-China rivalry across various domains. China's strategy appears to be focused on economic and technological competition, seeking to avoid direct military confrontation while still asserting its global power status.