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Game Theory

Research conducted by: RAND National Security Research Division; RAND Project AIR FORCE; RAND Drug Policy Research Center; Safety and Justice Program

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A Primer on the Theory of Games of Strategy

This 1954 classic on basic concepts of game theory and its applications popularized the subject for amateurs, professionals, and students throughout the world.

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Journal Articles (4)

A Table-Top Game to Teach Technological and Tactical Planning in a Graduate Terrorism and Counterterrorism Course — Jan 1, 2011

A table-top game is described where students play the role of a terrorist group seeking to attack an urban subway and then act as security planners charged with protecting it.

The Dynamics of Deterrence — Jan 1, 2009

Game theory and other simulations show that, if potential criminal offenders are sufficiently deterrable, increasing the conditional probability of punishment (given violation) can reduce the amount of punishment actually inflicted, by "tipping" a situation from its high-violation equilibrium to its low-violation equilibrium.