Single combat, the practice of ritualized one-on-one fighting for enormous stakes, dates back to antiquity. In The Iliad , Achilles and Hector engage in a duel that stands in for a larger conflict between vast armies. The Hebrew Bible includes the account of David and Goliath, whose single combat determines the victor of a growing conflict between opposing forces, the Israelites and the Philistines, that are otherwise prepared to do battle. In Medieval Europe, single combat evolved into a legal practice grounded in the belief that divine intervention would reveal the rightful party, while in Japan, the legendary Samurai duel between Musashi and Kojiro in 1612 became a cultural touchstone shaping Japanese thinking in business and strategy for centuries. The allure of single combat is the belief that larger and more complex military or political struggles between civilizations or clans can be settled through individual tests of courage, acumen, and legitimacy. When U.S.…