Post-Structuralist Game Theory

The manuscript offers a conceptualization and formalization of the notion of choice undecidability of an individual actor within a post-structural approach to social theory. In contrast to conventional decision theories which posit that the actors are able to delineate the set of alternative choices, this paper explores how choice undecidability shapes the decision-making process in strategic situations. Drawing a conceptual analogy and borrowing terminology from quantum mechanics, I use the technologies of quantum superposition and entanglement to suggest a framework for formally studying choice undecidability in a post-structuralist game theory. Contact

Resolving the Trust Predicament: A Quantum Game-theoretic Approach

Developing a good theoretical understanding of the role of trust in IR (such as in the events leading to the end of the Cold War) is still an open problem. Most game-theoretic studies of trust do not go beyond the limitations of an (ontologically) individualistic paradigm, thus assuming a pre-defined set of individual strategies. Yet, it is a fact that the predicament of collective trust is empirically resolved in many situations. This paper suggests a new game-theoretic approach—Quantum Game Theory (QGT)—to understand and explain how the predicament of trust is resolved. In a quantum game of trust the actors play the game by simultaneously collectively reconstructing the strategic environment in such a way as to become mutually strategically entangled. Quantum strategic entanglement allows trust to emerge between the two actors without assuming a need for signaling, prior “contractâ€\x9D type of arrangement, or any form of third-party communication. The paper develops and solves such a model of quantum game of trust Copyright Springer 2005trust predicament, quantum game theory,

A dynamic two-level theory of state implosion: The cases of Lebanon, Algeria, and Yugoslavia

Why do state implosions occur? This question urges itself on theorists and practitioners in international relations and security in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Despite the importance of the question, contemporary security and international relations theory has devoted little attention to state implosion. Realism, neorealism, neoliberal institutionalism, and constructivism posit the existence and stability of states, but do not offer a theory of state formation, preservation or implosion. They assume what has to be demonstrated.The dissertation has two goals. First, a generalized theory of two-level state dynamics is presented. The three basic structures of the modern state (binding-idea, institutions, and physical base) are continuously immersed within three global structures (the nation-state system, global economy, and identity-compact system) which affects the state level of socio-political cohesion. A state level of socio-political cohesion is thus a function of the degree of congruence between the web of domestic historical memories and identity consciousnesses and the three basic state structures under conditions of adaptability to the imperatives of the three global structures. Second, a theory of state implosion is elaborated. State implosion evolves through a five-stage process under conditions of domestic identity politics and adaptability to the imperatives of the global environment. The dissertation identifies two important, though neglected, variables--historical memory and identity consciousness--to explain state implosion. More specifically, rival historical memories and incompatible identities held by divergent groups ignite two processes: a fragmentation of state legitimacy and a disintegration of state authority under conditions of adaptability imperatives to the global environment. The dissertation combines the case study approach and the comparative historical analysis to test the five-stage theory in three empirical cases--Lebanon in 1975, Algeria in 1992, and Yugoslavia in 1991-92. In all three cases, rival group historical memories and antagonistic group identity consciousnesses were unyielding social-structural conditions which strongly molded the evolution of the state towards implosion.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio

Transport properties of anisotropic superconductors

In some heavy-fermion compounds (UPt3, and UBe13 under pressure) the normal state transport properties at low temperatures behave qualitatively as one would expect if electron-impurity interactions were the dominant source of scattering. The experimental data on ultrasonic attenuation and thermal conduction in the superconducting phase of UPt3 do not behave as one would expect if the electron-impurity phase shift were small, and therefore, assuming electron-impurity scattering to be the dominant process, we have calculated transport coefficients for a range of phase shifts, and for three anisotropic superconducting states, the axial and polar p-wave states, and ad-wave state consistent with cubic and hexagonal crystal symmetries. We have calculated the amplitude for an impurity to scatter a quasiparticle by taking into account repeated scattering of a quasiparticle by a single impurity, and we find that for phase shifts which are not small the superconducting correlations can give rise to a very different energy dependence of the quasiparticle mean free path in the superconducting state, as compared with its behavior in the normal state. The calculated ultrasonic attenuation and thermal conductivity agree much better with the data for U Pt3 if the normal-state phase shift is taken to be resonant (close to 1r/2), and if the superconducting state has a nodal line at the equator of the Fermi surface. For phase shifts which are neither small, nor resonant, we find first, that the mean free times for quasiparticle-like excitations differ from the quasihole-like ones, which we show leads to an enhancement of the thermoelectric effect in the superconducting state by a factor of order TF fTc, and second, an angular asymmetry of the scattering amplitude with respect to reflection of the final momentum in the plane determined by the incoming momentum and the symmetry axis of the gap. This latter effect can occur if the superconducting state has non-trivial phase variations over the Fermi surface. The angular asymmetry leads to new tensor components of transport coefficients which are non-zero only if the parity of the superconducting order parameter is the same as that of the current or currents entering the transport coefficient. Experimental detection of these new coefficients would therefore serve to determine the parity of the order parameter.U of I Onlydissertatio

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For very helpful conversations and comments on this chapter I am grateful to Dimitris

Social Theory of International Politics (Social Theory) has two parts, one substantive and one philosophical. The former develops a theory of the international system as an emergent phenomenon. The elements of the system are assumed to be states, which are treated as intentional actors or “people ” (also see Wendt, 2004). The system itself is seen as an anarchy, the structure of which is defined in cultural rather than material terms. The culture of the international system can take at least three different forms – Hobbesian, Lockean, and Kantian – depending on whether states constitute each other as enemies, rivals, or friends. Progress from a Hobbesian to Kantian culture is not inevitable, but can result from historically contingent processes of collective identity formation among states. Anarchy is what states make of it. Various parts of this argument have since been taken up by others. The claim that states are people too led to a lively symposium in Review of International Studies (2004); the three cultures of anarchy figure centrally in Barry Buzan’s (2004) majesterial reworking of the English School, Dustin Howes ’ (2003) discussion of state survival, and Scott Bennett and Allan Stam’s (2004) behavioral test of various international theories