ABSTRACT
The Israeli political situation we have analyzed in this book takes on a larger significance when viewed in game theory terms. On that score it is clear that decision making in any area of life involves countless dilemmas. Decisions are almost always made under conditions of uncertainty. In the social realm, much of this uncertainty springs from the mutual dependence of decision makers, that is to say, relationships that social scientists sometimes call ‘games’125. Uncertainty deriving from the mutual dependence of various parties reaching decisions simultaneously often produces decision-making problems greater than the ones that existed in the first place. The reason for this is that it is impossible to overcome uncertainty by merely gathering information (since all the ‘simultaneous’ decisions will be wavering between alternatives). Thus application of relatively simple solutions deriving from a calculation of ‘expected utilities’, which are possible when dealing with ‘state-of-nature’ situations, is also liable to be far more complicated in situations of mutual dependence between various decision makers.
