I think that politics do not have to be a zero sum game
Technical nitpick: the game is nonzero-sum, since net value can be destroyed (i.e. by building big useless dams). This is very different from zero-sum, since there are mutual relative gains to be had by agreeing to not destroy value.
Anyhow, I think that logical resolution would be to punish the cheating family with war as in reiterated prisoners dilemma.
Problem is, in the real world, there aren’t always clear up-front standards for what constitutes “cheating”. Also war is really really expensive, and we don’t always have the foresight to publicly precommit.
Technical nitpick: the game is nonzero-sum, since net value can be destroyed (i.e. by building big useless dams). This is very different from zero-sum, since there are mutual relative gains to be had by agreeing to not destroy value.
Problem is, in the real world, there aren’t always clear up-front standards for what constitutes “cheating”. Also war is really really expensive, and we don’t always have the foresight to publicly precommit.