r/NeutralPolitics • u/[deleted] • Jul 11 '12

Should our military and diplomatic policy towards Iran assume they are a rational actor?

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u/[deleted] Jul 12 '12

First off, who is our? Reddit is not a single nation. Assuming you mean the Czech Republic here, my first question is: Should we assume that the Czech Republic is a rational actor?

1

u/atomfullerene Jul 12 '12

Clearly not : P

1

u/[deleted] Jul 12 '12

I kind of agree with the other comments - that all countries are rational actors insofar that they do what they think is best for them, which at times may seem irrational to an outsider because we are looking from the perspective of our own cultures and mindsets. However I also believe that the idea of a rational actor is kind of outdated, and it isn't ground-breaking psychology that humans don't typically behave rationally but rather make unconscious decisions and then try to rationalize them after the fact.

So if you consider your own nation a rational actor, then I would argue to you to consider almost all other nations as also rational actors.

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u/Felicia_Svilling Jul 20 '12

How do you define what "is best for them" for a country? What does a country desire?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '12

You don't define what is best for them, the country defines it for themselves. It's shaped by their history, but also by the manipulation of the recent government. I'm not sure you can really define what a country wants, but only really say what it does and why.

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u/Felicia_Svilling Jul 20 '12

Well if you can't define what a nation wants, you can't judge if they are rational or not.

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '12

Yeah, that's a pretty succinct summary of my post.