Beyond the Prisoners’ Dilemma: Making Game Theory a Useful Part of Undergraduate International Relations Classes

While game theory has a well-established place in the international relations literature, it still has not found a similar place in the undergraduate classroom. With few exceptions, it only appears in introductory textbooks as the nuclear arms race application. This paper endeavors to correct the situation by describing what game theory can add to undergraduate understanding and offering concrete advice for its implementation. After describing the state of game theory in international relations pedagogy, the paper lays out how four different games can help instructors convey abstract concepts. In this paper, I address the concepts of strategic action, perverse incentives, and the importance of communication in an effort to help bridge the gap between a theoretically based curriculum and real-world events. It is hoped that these suggestions will help international relations instructors go beyond the prisoners’ dilemma to make game theory a useful item in their pedagogical toolbox.