Foundations of IR (Bueno de Mesquita, 2010)
Focus on 'leaders'
rational actors
Domestic politics
They want to keep the power
Game Theory (tool)
Choices of the leader
expectations about other leaders' choices
State vs Leader
Strategic perspective
"people, not state, make policy" (p. 3)
Neorealism
"states are interested in maximizing their security rather than their power" (p. 8)
Liberalism
"structural hierarchy is the central organizing principle of IR [...] an hegemonic state enforce norms of conduct" (p. 8)
Constructivism
How interests come into being (p. 9)
RATIONAL THEORY
non-cooperative games
The prisoner's dilemma
Extensive form games
"players negotiate and engage in strategic behavior" (2010, p. 83)
Player's interests/incentives
Strategic elements
Identify potential outcomes
How to respond to other's actions
Identify constraints
resources, unexpected events, lack of information
Tree of choices