The Bargaining Model In An Ideal Utopian World

In an ideal utopian world, I would like to believe that the views of war conform to the bargaining model; this means that potential gains and losses are weighed against the outcome to decide to go to war through communication and bargaining. War occurs because there is a dispute between two parties in trying to obtain something. This can range from territories, borders, reverence or religious dominance, just to name a few. On many occasions, conflicts brew before wars take place. Therefore, there is always a period of time when bargaining takes place or is able to take place. If the theoretical bargaining model was effectively used, a bargaining range would exist where both parties are better off cumulatively by avoiding war. The prisoner’s dilemma model would work very well in this situation because if two parties were at war, the winning party would obviously have the most to gain, but due to the uncertainty, refraining from war would be the best option.

Whenever war occurs, be it interstate or intrastate, many civilians die unnecessarily. Therefore, as a rational person, ideally, the bargaining model should be utilized to overcome conflict. However, there are many reasons why this can be a failure if both parties do not disclose all the leverage or advantages they have against the other party. It is also hard to estimate whether a particular country is serious about an action or playing bluff. Like poker, there are so many strategies to the game that one can only make a conjecture. Revealing the strongest card can put the player at loss if other players create a counter strategy but by not revealing, there would be an underestimation or overestimation of the probable