International relations and game theory

Abstract

The chapter discusses the application of game theory to international relations, where decision-makers are called upon to make difficult decisions and the lives of fellow citizens are at stake. Those decisions are even more difficult to make in a nuclear-armed world, where mistakes and miscalculations can have catastrophic consequences and where security dilemmas are extremely complex and hard to disentangle. Ultimately, the pursuit of self-interest at the international level appears to be incompatible with genuine rationality.