Coalition
A
coalition is an
alliance among entities, during which they cooperate in
joint action, each in their own
self-interest. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal
covenant.
A
coalition government, in a
parliamentary system, is a government composed of a coalition of parties. In
Australia, the
Coalition is also used to refer to an alliance (coalition agreement) of three parties (the
Liberals,
Nationals and
Country Liberals) existing in
federal politics since
1922- this constitutes a parliamentary coalition.
In
international relations, a coalition can be an
ad hoc grouping of nations united for a specific purpose. Sometimes, such groups are diverse and are characterized by some degree of commonalities. Sometimes, the degree of uncommonalities would lead some to perceive the group's bond as being ordinarily unlikely; here it can indicate the fact the historical ties may no longer be in operation, and the coalition members, instead, are joined by a new intention, not necessarily prior bonds.
Military
A coalition is a collection of countries involved in a military operation who are unified under a single command. The phrase "
Coalition of the Willing" was employed during the
2003 war in Iraq lead by the United States and its allies [
1].
Coalitions can be studied as
games. The
Nash equilibrium defines conditions where rational players can benefit other players in the coalition.
In the computer field, and in the study of cognition, the entities can be called
agents or
daemons. By definition, agents can form coalitions.
The Coalition, a group in the
Star Fleet Universe, the
General War era.
* Axelrod's book,
The Evolution of Cooperation*
united front
