[extropy-chat] Mathematics could stabilize peace treaties

[Giu1i0 Pri5c0]

Game theory might help draw up war settlements, from Nature: A political
scientist at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico has devised a mathematical
method that could help civil-war negotiators to find the most stable peace
treaties. Elisabeth Wood calculates that a settlement will be stronger and
more likely to last if it finds the ideal way to apportion the stakes. For
example, if two warring factions each want control of some part of a
disputed region, negotiators need to divide the territory in a way that
comes closest to satisfying them both. This doesn't guarantee that neither
party will fight on in the hope of gaining more. But it may lead them to
decide that further fighting will not substantially improve the eventual
outcome. Wood hopes that her technique could provide a general framework for
resolving civil conflicts over power, land or other resources fairly and
transparently. At present, dispute is addressed ad hoc. She reckons that her
mathematical model offers a way to make progress even if the stakes of the
conflict are less obviously divisible.
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