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View all search resultsThe Trump-Xi thaw offers breathing room for the world
The high-stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping served as a vital de-escalation momentum desperately needed for the stability of our world.
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United States President Donald Trump (center left) and US First Lady Melania Trump (left) greet on Sept. 23, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping (center right) and China’s First Lady Peng Liyuan (right) upon their arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, the US. (AFP/Kent Nishimura)
F
or years, the geopolitical friction between the world’s two reigning superpowers, the United States and China, has been painted as a grim historical inevitability.
Yet the high-stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington, DC, in late September was no ordinary diplomatic photo-op. It served as a vital de-escalation momentum desperately needed for the stability of our world.
Over the past decade, the dominant narrative shaping Washington–Beijing ties has been mired in structural pessimism. Many observers have leaned heavily on Graham Allison’s famous thesis of the Thucydides Trap, a historical dynamic dictating that when a rising power threatens to displace an existing hegemon, war is nearly always the inescapable outcome.
From competition in the South China Sea and trade wars to semiconductor restrictions and the sovereignty of Taiwan, the world has hovered on the edge of collective dread, fearing a second Cold War or an outright military confrontation.
The recent summit, marking the eighth meeting between Trump and Xi, injected a profound and much-needed sense of realistic relief. Both leaders displayed a brand of political pragmatism that transcended structural determinism. They recognized that the boundless costs of unrestrained conflict far outweigh any short-term political gains from power-play theatrics.
Examining this event through the lens of John Mearsheimer’s offensive realism reveals a fascinating yet promising paradox. Mearsheimer has argued that within an anarchic international system, great powers are driven by an intrinsic fear to maximize power for their own survival. In his view, a clash between two global giants is a structural certainty because each will continually strive to dominate and prevent the rise of a rival hegemon.
Nevertheless, Mearsheimer also concedes that rational leaders can calculate the limits of strategic moves when the costs of offensive conflict become prohibitively high.
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