Urs Luterbacher - Böcker

This volume explores the possibilities that rational choice and game theory have to offer for international relations research, using a variety of approaches. For instance, while paying due attention to the importance of bilateral representations of international situations in the form of two person games, it also covers co-operative problems in international relations at a multilateral level. In order to achieve this, it contains several pieces of work that are inspired by notions of coalition analysis and co-operative game theory. In order to cover the various aspects of the formal treatment of international co-operation, the volume is divided into five parts: general aspects, specific applications of game theory and co-operation, deterrence, escalation and crises, and finally other approaches to modelling international co-operation.

Cooperative Models in International Relations Michael D. Intriligator and Urs Luterbacher Cooperation problems in international relations research have been asso­ ciated with a variety of approaches. Game theoretical and rational-choice perspectives have been used extensively to analyze international conflict at a bilateral two-actor level. Problems of deterrence and conflict escalation and deterrence maintaining and conflict dilemma-solving strategies have been studied with a variety ofgame theoretical constructs. These range from two­ by-two games in normal form (Axelrod, 1984) to sequential games. It is obvi­ ous that the analysis of conflict-solving strategies and metastrategies deals implicitly and some times explicitly with cooperation. ! The emphasis on cooperation-promoting strategies plays therefore an important role within rational-choice analysis of two-actor problems. However, problems ofinternational cooperation have also been tradition­ ally associated with literary and qualitative approaches. This is especially true for studies carried out at a multilateral or systemic level ofanalysis. The association between cooperation problems at the international level and the study of international organizations influenced by the international legal tradition have certainly contributed to this state of affairs. The concept of international regime ofcooperation (Krasner, 1983), which derives itselffrom legal studies, has been developed entirely within the context of this literary 1 2 COOPERATIVE MODELS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS RESEARCH conception. However, as such studies evolved, various authors tended to use more formal constructs to justify their conclusions and to refine their analy­ ses.

The role of emotions is important in explaining conflicts and their resolution. Witness the emotions surrounding the outbreak of wars past and current and their endings. In order to introduce the perspective of emotions as an explanatory scheme of conflict escalation and crises, a comparison to classical conceptions such as the pursuit of power or commercial and financial interests is warranted. On first glance these two explanatory schemes seem to be at opposite extremes. However, new approaches to decision-making and rationality and challenges to the traditional expected utility model make these two conceptions much more compatible. The new perspective of rank dependent expected utility and the closely related notion of utility functions, which can both represent risk averse and risk preferring attitudes in decision-making go a long way in incorporating emotions within otherwise rational choices. One can thus build models that account more easily for conflict escalations but also for conflict resolution. These theoretical considerations are investigated within empirical cases of civil wars and shown to be effective in explaining the origins but also the breakdown of conflicts.

The beginnings of globalisation are usually dated to the last third of the twentieth century, alongside the rise of supranational companies, the financial economy and the information technology revolution. However, from the time the Earth was “anthropocized” during the Palaeolithic era, globalisation has not ceased, though it has seen a number of fluctuations, including the era of WWI and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Globalisation and COVID-19 examines how the simultaneous immobilisation of billions created a temporary hold on the mobility which constitutes the very irrigation of globalisation.In this 31st volume of the book series Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economics and Development, world-renowned contributors explore the pandemic through the lens of globalisation, analysing its implications for the globalised world and its development over time. Through innovative tools and methodologies of emerging social sciences like Regional Science, Peace Science, and particularly of Management Science which includes artificial intelligence and quantum mechanics, Globalisation and COVID-19 brings together researchers and practitioners to create a transversal and systemic approach necessary to interrogating essential questions of pandemic-era globality.