Don’t Hate The Ever-Changing Player, Hate The Ever-Changing Game

A discussion of dynamic games, how to model, solve them, and how they can model geopolitical systems.

Sections

1) Introduction

2) Types of Dynamic Games

3) Modelling Dynamic Games

4) Game Trees

5) Markov Decision Processes

6) Solving Markov Decision Processes Using Monte Carlo

7) Multiplayer Markov Decision Processes

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In geopolitics, the players who maintain longer-term thinking stand a greater chance of coming out on top. But, the tolerance for pain of these players is a key aspect to consider. A country with little influence could plan to rule the world in 100 years. But as the game progresses, and interactions with the other 194 players are revealed, it can be difficult to break out from under the shadow of those more powerful.

Photo by Stefano Pollio on Unsplash

Dynamic games are those in which the actions and payoffs of an individual player depending on their own actions and the actions of others. The timing of the moves also is a key factor in dynamic games.

Geopolitics is a dynamic game. Each player learns from the actions and information gained from the players' previous moves. This learning in turn can affect their own actions.