Steve Chan

China and Thucydides’s Trap

June 16, 2020

Steve Chan, University of Colorado Boulder Published: 2020 Abstract: The power-transition theory has been in vogue lately. Sometimes described as Thucydides's Trap, it claims that when a rising power catches up to an incumbent hegemon, the danger of war between them increases. Should we accept this claim? How compelling is...

Steve Chan

Thucydides’s Trap? Historical Interpretation, Logic of Inquiry, and the Future of Sino-American Relations

June 16, 2020

Steve Chan, University of Colorado Boulder Published: 2020 Abstract: The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE) ostensibly arose because of the fear that a rising Athens would threaten Sparta’s power in the Mediterranean. The idea of Thucydides’ Trap warns that all rising powers threaten established powers. As China increases its power relative...

Steve

Meet Steve Chan

Sept. 1, 2017

Professor “I came to CU in 1984. It’s been a long time,” Professor Chan begins. He is one of the longest serving professors in the Political Science department and has been teaching at CU fo r over thirty years. Born in China, Dr. Chan grew up in both Hong Kong...