eli5 When countries swap prisoners how are they sure the other country will actually do it?
In: 4538
As several posters have noted, you can only defraud the other party once. If you do, then you will have a poor reputation, and nobody will engage with you in such a deal ever again.
The formal game theory behind this has been explored by Robert Axelrod, and is described in detail in his book ‘The Evolution of Cooperation’.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_Cooperation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_Cooperation)
A deeper, but less direct discussion of cooperation is seen in Fukuyama’s book ‘Trust’.
[https://www.amazon.com/Trust-Social-Virtues-Creation-Prosperity/dp/0029109760](https://www.amazon.com/Trust-Social-Virtues-Creation-Prosperity/dp/0029109760)
I recommend both books, and have no financial interest in the sale of either.
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