POLI 105 1st Edition Lecture 9 Game Theory First it assumes that actors are rational who will see to further their preferences and will use cost benefit calculus to make their decisions Second and perhaps most importantly it identifies that pay offs may differ under variations of structural constraints Therefore rational actors are generalized but the games they play differ depending on the circumstances Conditions in which Cooperation will succeed despite Anarchy 1 States are encouraged to cooperate when the benefits of cooperation surpass the costs Giving strategic incentives and rewards for cooperation while increasing the cost of defection will thus promote cooperation 2 If states know that they will have to interact with each other again in the future they are likely to be highly cooperative in order to ensure reciprocal treatment 3 Because large numbers of players obscure mutual interests and enable states to reap the benefits of each other s cooperation without participating themselves limiting the number of actors involved improves the chances of cooperation Areas of Study within International Relations Theory The democratic peace theory broadly that liberal democracies don t fight each other which suggests the effect of domestic political regime typesand domestic politics on international relations The commercial peace theory which argues that free trade has pacifying effects on international relations This suggests that globalization and interdependence will have pacifying effects Institutional peace theory which attempts to demonstrate how cooperation can be sustained in anarchy how long term interests can be pursued over short term interests and how actors may realize absolute gains instead of seeking relative gains Related the effect of international organizationson international politics both in their role as forums for states to pursue their interests and in their role as actors in their own right The role of international lawin moderating or constraining state behavior These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute The effects of liberal normson international politics especially relations between liberal states The role of various types of unions in international politics relations such as highly institutionalized alliances e g NATO confederations leagues federations and evolving entities like the European Union and The role or potential role of cosmopolitanismin transcending the stateand affecting international relations