Game Theory I

The origins of game theory in social science reach back to the arms race at the height of the cold war. Since then, its applications have expanded, to include regime change, civil war conduct, and dealing with legacies of violations of human rights in the form of transitional justice. Recognizing the importance of this method in studying human rights and the proliferation of research in this area, this class will introduce human rights majors to the toolkit of game theory. Game theory analyzes strategic interactions between groups and individuals in an attempt to explain and predict how they behave “in equilibrium.” We will cover several equilibrium concepts, including the Nash Equilibrium and the Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibrium.