With many sovereign states, with no system of law enforceable among them, with each state judging its grievances and ambitions according to the dictates of its own reason or desire - conflict, sometimes leading to war, is bound to occur.

States in the world are like individuals in the state of nature. They are neither perfectly good nor are they controlled by law.

Then what explains war among states? Rousseau's answer is really that war occurs because there is nothing to prevent it.

In a zero-sum game, the problem is entirely one of distribution, not at all one of production.

War most often promotes the internal unity of each state involved. The state plagued by internal strife may then, instead of waiting for the accidental attack, seek the war that will bring internal peace.

The most important causes of political arrangements and acts are found in the nature and behavior of man.

The implication of game theory, which is also the implication of the third image, is, however, that the freedom of choice of any one state is limited by the actions of the others.