Graham Allison is the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at Harvard University where he studies national security with special interests in nuclear proliferation, China and Russia. Professor Allison was the first dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and served as the director of its Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs until 2017. He is the author of the 2017 book Destined For War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap? and co-author of the series, The Great Rivalry: China vs. the U.S. in the 21st Century. Serving as assistant secretary of defense in the Clinton Administration, Allison received the Defense Department’s highest civilian honor, the Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service for his efforts to denuclearize former Soviet states. He earned a B.A. in history from Harvard, an M.A. in politics, philosophy, and economics from Oxford University, and a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard. The following is a lightly edit