Trust between nations is a fallacy-of-composition metaphor, not literal trust

Evidence

As observers of politics we often speak in analogies that may be fallacies of composition, as noted in chapter 4. For example, one might try to explain peaceful Anglo-American relations by saying that England and the United States trust each other. However, this would be a loose claim that we might be hard pressed to articulate beyond its seeming metaphor. Many psychological and normative accounts of individual behavior are difficult to generalize to institutional behavior. If trust cannot be applied to institutions, it is of limited interest in political theory and international relations. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 705

Categorization

• XREF: The fallacy of composition here parallels the reader’s note that removing visual observability collapses individual-level trust but the sighted wife persists — who or what institution can ground macro trust without micro observability?