Similar situations crop up time after time. But because it happened so long before, most people don't even know that it has happened before, and tend to do the

Similar situations crop up time after time. But because it happened so long before, most people don't even know that it has happened before, and tend to do the same things to 'fix' the problem as was done previously. Naturally they fail or succeed, just like their forebears failed or succeeded. Hence the saying "those who refuse to learn from History are condemned to repeat it". or its cousin "there is nothing new under the sun". For us history buffs, it's always fascinating to watch the rerunning of historical patterns: "Don't the stupid bastards know what happened last time?" Case in point: the Thucydides Trap leading the US and China slowly but surely into war. My estimate is Spring-Summer 2020. Any later than that and the US is bound to lose.