How does game theory apply to military conflict?
And you want to be able to predict your opponent’s behavior, so you can plan for it, and stay ahead of it, and keep the opponent off balance. Game theory advocates assume that people will behavior rationally. “Specifically, the assumption is that each person maximizes her or his rewards — profits, incomes, or subjective benefits — in the circumstances that she or he faces.” (http://william-king.www.drexel.edu/top/eco/game/game.html). The classical game theory application is the “prisoner’s dilemma.” Again, from the link above: Two burglars, Bob and Al, are captured near the scene of a burglary and are given the “third degree” separately by the police. Each has to choose whether or not to confess and implicate the other. If neither man confesses, then both will serve one year on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon. If each confesses and implicates the other, both will go to prison for 10 years.
