Beirut traffic: The prisoner’s dilemma in action

The prisoner’s dilemma is a classic game theory example that is used to show how logical individual actions can be deeply illogical for a group and/or society as a whole. In it, two members of a criminal gang are arrested and held in separate rooms, with no information about the other. The cops have limited information, so if neither talks they will get only a lesser charge and serve a one year sentence — the best result for all. Yet, the theory holds, they will both reason individually, rather than collectively, and therefore will betray the other — with both subsequently going to prison for two years each. This is because both know that if the other betrays them and they remain silent, they alone will serve a three year sentence and the other will walk free. Now apply this to Lebanon. Lebanese people have long been aware of the