Three-Way Street: Strategic Reciprocity in World Politics [Paperback]

How can the world's most powerful nations cooperate despite their conflicting interests? InThree-Way Street, Joshua S. Goldstein and John R. Freeman analyze the complex intersection defined by relations among the United States, the Soviet Union, and China over the past forty years.

The authors demonstrate that three major schools of international relations theory—all game-theoretic, psychological, and quantitative-empirical approaches—have all advocated a strategy that employs cooperative initiatives and reciprocal responses in order to elicit cooperation from other countries. Critics have questioned whether such approaches can model how countries actually behave, but Goldstein and Freeman provide a wealth of detailed empirical evidence showing the existence and effectiveness of strategic reciprocity among the three countries between 1948 and 1989. Specifically, they establish that relations among the three countries have improved in recent decades through a two steps forward, one step back pattern. Their innovative and remarkably accessible synthesis of leading theoretical perspectives brilliantly illuminates the nature and workings of international cooperation.

Joshua S. Goldsteinis associate professor of international relations at the University of Southern California.John R. Freemanis professor of political science at the University of Minnesota.

List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction: An Outline and Rationale
1. Theories of Cooperation
Game-Theoretic Approaches
Prisoner's Dilemma Games and the Tit-for-Tat Strategy
Applications to International Relations
Evaluation of Game-Theoretic Approaches
Psychological Approaches
Psychological Theory and GRIT
Images and Expectations in International Relations
Evaluation of Psychological Approaches
Quantitative-Empirical Approaches
Richardson's Model and Negative Grievances
Quasi-Experimental lcH