How Does Reciprocity Work? Evidence from the Laws of War
BibTeX
@MISC{Morrow_howdoes,
author = {James D. Morrow},
title = {How Does Reciprocity Work? Evidence from the Laws of War},
year = {}
}
Share
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
OpenURL
Abstract
Please do not cite or quote without the author's permission. Abstract-1-Reciprocity is a central concept in much of international relations, particularly international law. The idea that states should respond to one another in kind is deeply ingrained in how we think about international politics, on topics from the use of force to trade liberalization. Empirical work has shown broad patterns of reciprocity in state interactions (e.g. (Goldstein and Freeman 1990)). Agreements to cooperate are generally believed to be enforced by threats of reciprocal retaliation against defections from the agreement. International institutions, including international law, are believed to aid in reciprocal enforcement in a variety of ways. Despite this general belief about the logic and role of reciprocity in international politics, there are important gaps in our understanding of it. First, the varieties of reciprocity are not always appreciated. The game of iterated Prisoners ' Dilemma game is often used to illustrate the logic of reciprocity; responses are direct, immediate, and proportionate to the defection from the agreement to cooperate. This form of reciprocity can support full cooperation between the
Keyphrases
reciprocity work international politics international law reciprocal retaliation general belief international relation broad pattern reciprocal enforcement state interaction dilemma game central concept full cooperation iterated prisoner international institution empirical work important gap
