Author: Paloma Valentina Carrillo-Gallegos

Paloma Carrillo-Gallegos is a master’s student in the Contemporary Chinese Studies program at the University of Oxford, class of 2021. She obtained her undergraduate degree in International Studies at the University of California, Irvine, where she also completed a minor in Chinese Language and Literature. The focus of her studies has primarily been on East Asia and how its states interact with others on the global stage. In the future, Paloma hopes to work for a non-governmental organization and further her studies with a PhD in International Relations.

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Biden China Diplomacy & International Relations Politics & Government Student Essays theory US

Superpower Diplomacy: Offensive Realism and the Thucydides Trap Theory on Potential Future Strife between China and the U.S.

The proposition of the Thucydides Trap is that the chances of war increase when a state comes closer to becoming the new hegemon. China and the U.S., when evaluated as offensive realist powers that prioritize power as a precursor to national security, are moving towards the dangerous prospect of a military conflict.