Must-Reads of 2017: Escaping the Thucydides Trap

From Ukraine to the South China Sea, the past several years have reminded us that international peace and stability are not givens. The great issues of war and peace, order and disorder, are returning to the forefront of global affairs. My end-of-year reading list is thus made up of books that help us understand the causes and consequences of global upheaval -- and that underscore the exceptional role America has played in holding back the forces of chaos over the past 70 years.

First, there is Thucydides' "History of the Peloponnesian War." This is the granddaddy of them all so far as treatments of war and peace are concerned. It relates the epic struggle between Athens and Sparta in the 5th century BC. The former country was a liberal, commercially oriented maritime power; the latter was a heavily militarized slave society and the dominant land power of ancient Greece. They tangled in a conflict that would last nearly three decades, ravaging both sides and leading to the end of Greece's golden age.