Citation

Wittman D. Am. J. Polit. Sci. 2009; 53(3): 588-602.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1540-5907.2009.00388.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article derives the optimal bargaining strategies of the belligerents when each side has private but incomplete information about the expected outcome of a war, should it take place. I show that the aggressor's demand curve can be below the defender's offer curve, that wars are possible even when both sides are jointly pessimistic, and that the relative cost of a war can radically alter the types of disputes that end in war. A simple diagram provides the intuition for most of the major propositions.