POLSCI 160 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Nuclear Weapon

• School: U of M
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLSCI 160
• Professor: James Morrow

Document Summary

Game tree: shows the strategic logic of a threat. Specifies who the players are, what choices they have, the sequence of those choices, the outcome of those choice, what the players know, and how they evaluate the outcomes. Whoever makes the threat is the initiator (a) If the target gives in, that is the best. If the initiator does not make the threat, that is okay. If the target defies the threat, that is the worst depending on if they carry out the threat or not. Whoever is threatened is the target (b) If the target defies the threat and the initiator submits, that is the best. Without carrying out the threat, it will weaken its threats in the future. If the initiator makes no threat, that is good too. If the target submits to the threat, that is bad. If the target defies the threat and the initiator carries out the threat, that is the worst.