Jun

28

Trade Negotiations aren’t Chess, Poker, or Go. They’re Bridge.
Chess is zero-sum and strictly competitive. Trade is collaborative; its foundational principles are voluntary exchange and mutual advantage.
Peter C. Earle, Subiksha Ramakrishnan
May 22, 2025

Trade negotiations are often mischaracterized as adversarial contests akin to warfare or chess. (The latter is increasingly invoked in varying degrees: 3d, 4d, and nth degree). Headlines speak of countries “battling” over tariffs or “outmaneuvering” each other in the global marketplace. But while those analogies may be emotionally satisfying and undergird ideological fervor, they fundamentally misunderstand and distort the nature of trade itself.

Unlike war, trade is not about conquest; it’s about cooperation under constraints. While no analogies are perfect, within the gaming milieu, a better model is to be found in contract bridge, where strategy, communication, and shared outcomes dominate the pursuit of mutual gain.


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