This is interesting. It reminds me of learning about Homo Economicus—the believe that humans behave rationally and will always behave in a way that optimizes th

This is interesting. It reminds me of learning about Homo Economicus—the believe that humans behave rationally and will always behave in a way that optimizes their profits. This myth has of course been thoroughly debunked within the scientific literature, but it has taken a long time to die within some economic circles. Just recently there was a post here on HN about nudge theory—a theory which seems as it is trying to patch up homo economicus. Your post here seems to suggest that homo economicus is still alive in theories about international relations—at least among laypeople—the believe that states somehow will act rationally—even though individuals won’t—and always act in a way that optimizes their wealth. Off course, there is always a reason to be skeptical about such absolute patterns in such a complex and dynamic system, especially if the same pattern has been debunked in other fields.