These days people talk about “the Thucydides Trap” to describe the potential conflict between China and the US, but they forget other lessons from the Peloponnesian war, such as how Athens exploited its allies.
To counter Sparta, Athens established the Delian League, requiring member states to store their gold at the Delian Treasury and adopt Athenian coinage. At a later stage, Athenians moved the Delian Treasury to Athens and demanded allies pay tribute — essentially protection money.
America’s rumoured Mar-a-Lago accord to upend the global monetary system is exactly reminiscent of the Delian Treasury. As Greeks were fond of saying, there is nothing new under the sun.
Steven Kamin and Mark Sobel (“Mar-a-Lago Accord, Schmar-a-Lago Accord”, FT Alphaville, March 12) think that the US charging a “user fee” on US Treasuries held by allies or the selective freezing of Treasury repayments is unthinkable. But that’s because they don’t know their history.
Meng Lu
Beijing, China
