What is bargaining and its underpinning theory? What are the key weaknesses of bargaining theory?

What will be an ideal response?

Varies. Bargaining is a strategic or reciprocal exercise in which two or more parties interact rationally to resolve a dispute, each taking into account the action of the other parties. Bargaining theory relies on the core idea that because war is costly, there must exist a negotiated outcome that will leave both sides better off than if they actually fight. Thus, war is a failure of bargaining. Bargaining theory has several key weaknesses. First, as it is based on reciprocal relations rather than structural circumstances, it is less capable of handling exogenous events, such as structural shifts of power. Second, bargaining theory generally omits the possibility that states can make commitments and then change regimes in the future and not honor those commitments, a key identity factor. Lastly, bargaining theory does not handle well psychological factors that distort information and the interpretation of information.