Chinese History after the ‘Thucydides Trap’
How can citizens of the West free themselves of historical illusions about China that drive the world to war? How can history help us to imagine a world order better than our present world order of United Nations? How can history help us to imagine Different Nations that live in Harmony?
These are the questions I am reflecting on in this essay on China and the postwar world order. I do not have the answers, and out of uncertainty has come extra length. So I have divided my reflections into two parts - so the length is more manageable for you.
In Part One I wrote of two dominant and related illusions: the Thucydides Trap and Banquo’s Ghost. Both visions are driven by fear. Both visions are driven by an Atlanticist version of history that excludes the rich complex history of all the cultures that make up China.
In Part Two of this story I explore how to reimagine the world with history that listens to real, specific voices from China, with all the rich detail of its histories and literature. It is the first stage of a journey of discovery for me since I know too little about Chinese history, culture, society and literature. But I know enough to know what I do not know. And I know enough to detect small signs in the narratives presented even in the best scholarly histories that reflect the interests of the West and not the voices of China. They are signs that even some of the best Western scholars of China are haunted by Banquo’s Ghost.
In this second part, for paid subscribers, I share:
A great Chinese historian’s advice on enlightenment
Examples of how Western histories of China are haunted by Banquo’s Ghost
How historian Rana Mitter’s work helps us to understand how China sees the future development of the world after American Primacy,
My work-in-progress reading guide to China’s role in the world since 1945.
In 2025 I will be writing an extended series on how history can help us reimagine the great powers of the world, and bring us closer to a ‘symphony of civilizations’ at peace in a multipolar world.
So please subscribe now to learn more from history and join with me on a journey of discovery of the history of one of many ‘Great States’ in the world, China.
A Chinese historian’s advice on enlightenment
To adapt to China’s changing role in the world, we need to read new histories of China’s past, its culture, its civilizations and its many interpretations of history.
The Song dynasty historian Sima Guang wrote:
“Listen to all sides if you want to be enlightened; rely on one if you would stay in the dark.”
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