Some in the West may hope that COVID-19 exposes the Chinese Communist Party’s lies and human rights violations while sparking mass protests. Meanwhile, the pandemic spreads in the West and complicates the geopolitical rivalry between the US and China.

China is ready to challenge American global leadership and the liberal international order itself. In Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?, Graham Allison argues that a war between the two great powers is a scarily real possibility that needs our attention.