Piped: https://piped.video/watch?v=zMxHU34IgyY

On October 7, 2023, Hamas initiated an offensive against Israel in a manner unseen for a half century. This video goes deep into the broader source of the conflict. Unlike traditional explanations, it highlights bargaining frictions as a key cause. It is not sufficient to simply point to the substantive issues in dispute between Hamas and Israel. As long as war is costly, both sides should prefer avoiding a war in principle. Thus, we must explain the conflict using bargaining frictions: first strike advantages, long-term shifts in the balance of power, uncertainty over the outcome of war, or leader biases.

Hope you like some lines on maps, because there is going to be a heavy dose of them today!

• 0:00 Hamas and Israel at War
• 2:25 The Substantive Conflict
• 5:53 War’s Inefficiency Puzzle
• 10:37 First Strike Advantages and Preemptive War
• 13:04 Power Shifts, Preventive War, and Saudi Arabia
• 16:13 Information Problems and Turbulent Israeli Politics
• 17:36 Leader Benefits and Violence as Advertisement
• 19:02 Which One Caused the War?
• 20:40 Can You Get KFC in Gaza?