Hmm, sounds like parties not fully grokking the optimal (not thinly logical) solution to the iterated prisoners' dilemma. I saw the same thought process is the otherwise very nice novel "Time's Children". Good for drama, but not thought through.
It only takes one.
In humans v. AI, there may be only one game, if we don’t figure this out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's_dilemma#The_iterate...
best imho, 10 min and done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOvAbjfJ0x0
longer and more over produced: https://radiolab.org/episodes/104010-one-good-deed-deserves-...
totally academic : https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011...