Abstract
Pieter de la Court’s (1618-1685) Political Maxims of the State of Holland presented a remarkably consistent grand strategy for the Dutch province of Holland in relation to its Dutch allies and the European powers. I present an outline of this strategy that was built around the accomplishment and defence of commercial goals. I sketch a historical context that takes into account the general historical shift from tribute-taking agrarian societies towards commercial wealth-generating polities, and also the violent contemporary military and ideological background against which De la Court’s strategy stands out. I argue that his strategy can be understood by his use of three basic game theoretic concepts (prisoner’s dilemma, assurance game and free-riding). And I stress the distinctive character of De la Court’s work, by comparing the practical and strategic use of these concepts in the Maxims with the function of the same concepts in the philosophical contract theories of Thomas Hobbes and Benedict de Spinoza.
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