The Limits of Negotiation: A Little Applied Game Theory
INTRODUCTION Much of the political news is about negotiations. American politicians, in both domestic and foreign disputes, don’t seem to know much about negotiation strategy. Maybe a little applied game theory would help. IS NEGOTIATION POSSIBLE? The first question is whether or not negotiation is possible or just a waste of time and effort. Negotiations will be fruitless if at least one party believes there are no possible outcomes that are better than not negotiating. Compromise is impossible. Fanatics, true believers, proponents of “Victory at any cost” or “Give me victory or give me death” or parties who believe their opponents are evil are not likely to negotiate. Sometimes leaders act to limit their options or those of their followers. The famous historical example is when Cortes burned his boats that brought him and his men to Mexico. Returning to Cuba was no longer an option. Cortes forced his men to make the “credible” commitment to conq