Thucydides Trap doesnt always lead to challenger winning.

I saw a lot of misreading of the “Thucydides Trap”

Yes, there may be rising powers to challenge the hegemony or main dominant power of the day – and often happens frequently.

But people are forgetting, a lot of the challengers actually lost their fight to overtake the dominant power.

Thucydides Trap doesnt mean the challenger will win the war and overtake the incumbent power. It only meant “war is inevitable”.

Countries like Napoleon’s France, Nazi Germany & Imperial Japan in WW2, or going back further in history, Carthage vs Rome… Seleucid vs Rome… Xiongnu vs Han… Tang vs Tibet/Arab… etc… all the challengers lost eventually.

And even the war that “Thucydides Trap” came from, where Athens rises to power to challenge Sparta… the challenger actually lost the war – Athen actually lost the war against the incumbent.