When faced with the possibility of cooperating for mutual gain,
states that feel insecure must ask how the gain will be
divided.. A state worries about a division of possible gains
that may favor others more than itself. That is the first way in
which the structure of international politics limits the
cooperation of states. A state also worries lest it become
dependent on others through cooperative endeavors and exchanges
of goods and services... The world's well-being would be
increased if an ever more elaborate divisions of labor were
developed, but states would thereby place themselves in
situations of ever closer interdependence... In an unorganized
realm each unit's incentive is to put itself in a position to be
able to take care of itself since no one can be counted on to do
so. The international imperative is "take care of yourself"!
Some leaders of nations may understand that the well-being of
all of them would increase in their participation in a fuller
division of labor. But to act on the idea would