Specific Reciprocity and the 105 Soviet Spies

Abstract

Specific reciprocity — the phrase is due to Robert Keohane — is a condition in which two parties give to each other at least roughly equivalent treatment in respect to some specific aspect of their relations.¹ The principle of specific reciprocity holds that this condition is a just one: it is only fair that there should be a ‘two-way street’ on such and such a matter. For example, if we allow your national airline two flights a day into our premier airport, it is only fair that you should permit our national airline two flights a day into yours; if we buy a lot of your goods, it is only right that you should buy a lot of ours — ‘imbalances’ in bilateral trade should be ‘corrected’. It follows that if one party decides unilaterally to haul back from a formal agreement or tacit understanding providing for equivalent benefits, the second party is entitled to retaliate in kind: ‘tit-for-tat’. Fear of such retaliation is a deterrent of sorts.