What is Brinkmanship?
[[File:Cubacrisis 17 Oct 1962.jpg|thumb|300px|The handling of the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] has been described as brinkmanship.]] '''Brinkmanship''' (or '''brinksmanship''') is the practice of trying to get a good outcome by pushing events to the brink of [[Conflict|active conflict]]. This succeeds by causing the opponent to back down and make concessions. If they do not back down, they risk engaging in a conflict that would not be good for either side. That might be done with [[diplomacy]]. It is done by making the others think that one party will do something bad rather than concede. The [[Tactic (method)|tactic]] occurs in [[international politics]], [[foreign policy]], [[labor relations]], modern [[military strategy]], [[terrorism]], and high-stakes [[Lawsuit|litigation]]. The term is mainly associated with [[US Secretary of State]], [[John Foster Dulles]], from 1953 to 1956 during the [[Eisenhower administration]]. Dulles tried to prevent aggression by the [[Soviet Union]] by warning that the cost might be [[massive retaliation]] against Soviet targets.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Michael Gordon |year=2005 |title=Beyond Brinkmanship: Eisenhower, Nuclear War Fighting, and Korea, 1953–1968 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_presidential-studies-quarterly_2005-03_35_1/page/52 |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=52–75 |doi=10.1111/j.1741-5705.2004.00235.x}}</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Tactics]] [[Category:Diplomacy]]