The Hobbesian Trap

What prevents the interested parties from revealing the private information they have to avoid suboptimal outcomes? Due to the conflictual relation between the parties, each has an incentive to lie and deceive the other; this incentive, in turn, calls into question the credibility of communication between the two. This article focuses primarily on the strategic transmission of information. It uses a two-by-two game with strategic complementarities to illustrate how the costless, though imprecise, transmission of information can be used to deceive, or possibly enlighten, and induce either peace or conflict.