Arbitration or mediation may be used to avoid no-win outcomes and find more satisfactory results.
[citation needed] In game theory, a "no-win" situation is a circumstance in which no player benefits from any outcome, hence ultimately losing the match.
For example, the "victorious" side may have accomplished their objective, which may have been worthless; it may also lose a strategic advantage in manpower or positioning.
For example, the British Empire was one of the victorious powers of the Second World War but was so weakened that it could no longer maintain its status as a great power in a world that became dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union.
In the past in Europe, women accused of being witches were sometimes bound and then thrown or dunked in water to test their innocence.