Thucydides, the Author of the Classic Book the Peloponnesian War

The Peloponnesian war is central to any student of the period, but very much so for imperial apologists. Thucydides argues that the real reason for the war was the growth of athenian power in the fear which this caused in sparta. Why are the stakes of interpreting thucydides so high? And how is it that these imperial apologists so egregiously misread a book that contains so many obvious cautionary tales about empire and its consequences for democracy?"