While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• Political scientist Graham Allison is known for his Thucydides trap theory.
• Allison’s theory states that whenever “a rising power is threatening to displace a ruling power,” conflict is likely.
• The theory is based on Thucydides’s explanation of the conflict between Athens and Sparta.
• Thucydides wrote that “the rise of Athens and the fear this instilled in Sparta” made conflict “inevitable.”
• History professor Edmund Stewart recently challenged the historical basis of the theory.
• Stewart claimed that Athens was not a rising power and that the rivals experienced a “clash of cultures” instead.