Joseph Nye of Harvard University introduced a new – and already indispensable – concept to the Sinological lexicon. Whereas China could fall into the "Thucydides trap" if it appears too strong and provokes a challenge from the US, Nye's "Kindleberger trap" describes a China that invites a different set of problems by acting too weak.
By Robert Farley, National Interest: “Although disagreements between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan and the South China Sea have hardly subsided, it increasingly appears that affairs on the Korean Peninsula would provide the spark for conflict.”
Where China Leads, the Rest of the World Follows…
By Enrique Dans, Medium: “China is now a society in which everything, whether online or in the real world, is collected, analyzed and processed: if you walk down the street or drive your car, a camera will pick up your face or your license plate and it will identify you in less than three seconds, building a detailed map of your habits, your movements and associating them with your online activities, where a vast army has been tasked with eliminating all dissidence and reaffirming the beliefs and the guidelines lines set by the government.”
Joseph Nye draws a clear distinction between measures that elicit others' attraction and those that coerce assent.