Diplomatic Calculus in Anarchy: How Communication Matters

• Published in: The American political science review Vol. 104; no. 2; pp. 347 - 368
• Main Author: TRAGER, ROBERT F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.05.2010
• Subjects: Alliance; Anarchy; Bargaining; Bargaining theory; Calculus; Cheap talk; Communication; Communication (Thought Transfer); Conflict; Credible threats; Crisis management; Cultural Differences; Diplomacy; Diplomatic relations; Expected utility; Foreign Policy; Information sources; International alliances; International relations; Negotiation; Peacetime; Political science; Signals; Simulation; Strategic behaviour; Threat; War
• ISSN: 0003-0554; 1537-5943
• DOI: 10.1017/S0003055410000158

When states come to believe that other states are hostile to their interests, they often reorient their foreign policies by realigning alliance commitments, building arms, striking first, mobilizing troops, or adopting policies to drain the resources of states that menace them. This article presents a crisis bargaining model that allows threatened states a wider array of responses than the choice to back down or not. Two implications are that (1) “cheap talk” diplomatic statements by adversaries can affect perceptions of intentions, and (2) war can occur because resolved states decline to communicate their intentions, even though they could, and even though doing so would avoid a war. The model relates the content and quality of diplomatic signals to the context of prior beliefs about intentions and strategic options. In simulations, this form of diplomatic communication reduces the likelihood of conflict.