Graham Allison: Americans will finally be pragmatic

Last year, Washington's assertion that identifies CHINA as a strategic rival can be witnessed in two White Papers; but can the U.S. maintain its spirit of pragmatism prevalent since the very beginning of its rise until today?

Will Washington be able to adjust to the reality, given the CHINA-U.S. trade war is going to be a lose-lose game? Can the U.S. realize this adjustment with policies?

Harvard professor Graham Allison, well-known for the concept of the "Thucydides Trap," said even though U.S. politics are sometimes whacky, in the end, they will be pragmatic.

“Americans' DNA has pragmatism, so Americans are normally and naturally pragmatic,” he told CGTN.

He said the question causing the current Thucydides dilemma is that of CHINA's rise. Such rising has nothing to do with the U.S., but CHINA itself is to become great again.

“The Chinese used to have two dollars a day, but now 99 percent of the population has been raised above that level, and that's a great achievement. The fact is that the Chinese have ten thousand (U.S. dollars) per capita today. Why shouldn't they have twenty thousand? They should be proud too,” he added.

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