Mafia mediation converts threats into future-oriented reciprocal guarantees

Evidence

A: “It is urgent that [the managing director] realize it is better not to proceed with regard to Petralia Soprana.” B: “Really!” A: “Well … ‘cause otherwise we are going to have big troubles, and vice versa by doing so we will get big advantages.” B: “Do you mean there will be something for us in the future?”A: “Yes … in the future.” B: “But [the managing director] wants the guarantee from the man who counts…” A: “And the man who counts gives it.” — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 572

Categorization

• XREF: The phrase ‘the man who counts gives it’ is a textbook Schelling credible commitment—Mafia as the guarantee provider that makes a one-shot defection risk tolerable.