The Brinkmanship Game: Bargaining Under the Mutual Risk of Escalation*

Abstract

This article describes a simple two-player game which illustrates basicconcepts of brinkmanship, to include calculations of probability andexpected outcomes, and risk-taking profiles. The game befits a single50-minute class period with introduction, gameplay, and discussion.The game can supplement the study of conflict from classic Cold Warcase studies of crisis bargaining, to arms control, or negotiating inter-national protocols for global climate change such as the ParisAgreement. The Brinkmanship Game was developed for the seventhweek of a 10-week graduate course called Game Theory andDecisionmaking: Exploring Strategic Situations. The course features aflipped classroom with class time devoted to experimentation, game-play, and discussion of readings and games; lectures are online. TheBrinkmanship Game would be appropriate for students in anyadvanced undergraduate or graduate level course in international rela-tions, security studies, negotiation, or game theory. The BrinkmanshipGame provides an active learning opportunity that can be valuable forencouraging students to come to their own understanding of con-cepts of mutual risk-taking. The authors have found the game to beeffective in the classroom and hope it may prove valuable to thosesearching for ways to motivate students and to help them learn.