Thucydides described the cause of the Peloponnesian War as the inevitable clash between the established power at the time, Sparta, and the rising power, Athens. This so-called “Thucydides trap” has been used a lot lately as an analytical tool for the dangers inherent in the rising US-China rivalry. The US elections, however, showed that similar, dangerous dynamics can develop domestically.
When an established social group feels threatened by rising forces, then its top priority is to circle the wagons and beat off its rivals. Its members don’t care so much about their immediate self-interest as long as they contribute to strengthening the group which they believe is their defense against a greater threat – like the women who voted for Trump despite his sexism, his crimes and the abolition of the federal right to an abortion. We could name what we see in the United States today as “Trump’s pit” – a closed system in which various groups are radicalized by their mutual hostility and the conviction that the triumph of one will mean the elimination of the other.
The 2024 elections secured Donald Trump’s total dominance, as he and the extremist, incoherent movement that he leads control the executive, legislative and judicial branches of power. The checks and balances that the Founders established to avert the rise of dangerous populists have become tools in the hands of the most unsuitable person to ever hold the highest office in the land. Instead of preventing .
