The use of metagame analysis as a diagnostic technique in decision situations: The 1988 U.S.-U.S.S.R. grain negotiations

Recent developments in computer-assisted decision support methods have created the opportunity to use game-theoretically based decision-making approaches as an evaluative and diagnostic methodology in multiple participant/multiple objective decision situations. This paper reports on efforts to use CONAN (Cooperation and Conflict Analysis) techniques and software to (1)develop a protocol to interview U.S. and Soviet officials involved in the 1988 negotiations for a Long Term Agreement on grain purchases; (2)analyze the dynamics of the negotiations; and (3)draw conclusions about strengths and weaknesses of such techniques in analyzing multiple participant/multiple objective decision situations.