COWLES FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH IN
ECONOMICS Box 208281
COWLES FOUNDATION DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 766 "The Uses, Value and Limitations of Game Theoretic Methods in Defense Analysis" Martin Shubik October 1985 The central contribution of game theory to defense analysis has been a language for the
understanding of how to formulate and study strategic or cross-purposes optimization in
situations involving two or more actors. It is suggested here in this discussion that two
fundamentally different classes of application of game theory to problems in defense have
emerged. The first is the application of two-person zero sum game theory to military,
primarily tactical situations which for the purposes at hand can be reasonably well
modeled in this manner. The second is the application of two or more person nonconstant
sum game theory to strategic problems involving threat analysis, crises control and the
interface between international diplomatic relations and war. |
