With a ubiquitous contemporary discourse on China’s hegemonic rise and current territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China’s historical rivals joining the major power’s grand economic...Show moreWith a ubiquitous contemporary discourse on China’s hegemonic rise and current territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China’s historical rivals joining the major power’s grand economic projects seems anomalous. This paper will show that despite historically problematic China-Vietnam relations, Vietnam still agreed upon joining the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) due to a dependence on China for national survival. More specifically, an economic interdependence forces Vietnam to cooperate with China on projects like the BRI, as Vietnam’s regime legitimation relies on economic growth. This reality is more so related to the implications of Vietnam hypothetically refusing, than to agreeing to join however. Defection instead of cooperating on the BRI, would make Vietnam’s economic growth precarious as Vietnam is familiar with how China reciprocates these choices. Although this still leaves multiple factors forcing Vietnam’s BRI membership an unlikely reality, this paper will show that these factors are overridden by the US as a significant actor when it comes to Vietnam's cooperation on the BRI. And when it comes to reasons why China has decided to integrate a ‘historical enemy’ into the BRI, one will find that China’s contemporary dependence on Vietnam is a significant variable in the matter. These findings will be made apparent by applying game theory’s prisoner's dilemma to the bilateral event of Vietnam joining China’s grand economic initiative.Show less
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) arms race is becoming the biggest arms race of our time and this race is leading to problems in AI safety. International cooperation is needed to tackle the threats...Show moreThe Artificial Intelligence (AI) arms race is becoming the biggest arms race of our time and this race is leading to problems in AI safety. International cooperation is needed to tackle the threats. Game theory can contribute to explaining competition and cooperation in international relations. The Prisoner's Dilemma (PD) has been used to study arms race dynamics before. However, there is a gap in applying the PD to the AI arms race. This thesis aims to study whether the PD applies to the AI arms race, as it helps to understand the characteristics of this arms race which could be useful for accomplishing cooperation. Qualitative research is conducted using ATLAS.ti 8 to identify the features of PD games. These features are used as codes to analyse national AI strategies and academic articles on the AI arms race. The results show that the AI arms race PD model is constructed of a multiplicity of (constantly changing) actors and choices. The game is asymmetric, asynchronous and the iteration is indefinite. Although the PD model is applicable to the AI arms race, these uncertainties and characteristics of the AI arms race result in a game which is likely to exceed game theory. Even though the model turned out too complex for game theory to work with, this thesis contributes to a better understanding of the playfield of the AI arms race.Show less