Brinkmanship
Encyclopedia
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
, labour relations, and (in contemporary settings) military strategy
Military strategy
Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops...
involving the threatened use of nuclear weapons.
This manoeuvre of pushing a situation with the opponent to the brink succeeds by forcing the opponent to back down and make concessions. This might be achieved through diplomatic maneuvers by creating the impression that one is willing to use extreme methods rather than concede. During the Cold War
Brinkmanship (Cold War)
Brinkmanship is a term that was used to refer to the constant competition between the United States of America and the Soviet Union.-Origin:The the term "brinkmanship" was originally coined by United States Secretary of State John Foster Dulles during the height of the Cold War...
, the threat of nuclear force was often used as such an escalating measure. Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
also used brinkmanship conspicuously during his rise to power.
Origins
Brinkmanship is the ostensible escalation of threats in order to achieve one's aims. Originally the term brinkmanship was coined by Secretary of StateUnited States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world...
under the Eisenhower administration, during the Cold War. Eventually, the threats involved might become so huge as to be unmanageable at which point both sides are likely to back down. This was the case during the Cold War; the escalation of threats of nuclear war, if carried out, are likely to lead to mutual assured destruction
Mutual assured destruction
Mutual Assured Destruction, or mutually assured destruction , is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of high-yield weapons of mass destruction by two opposing sides would effectively result in the complete, utter and irrevocable annihilation of...
.
Dangers
The dangers of brinkmanship as a political or diplomatic tool can be understood as a slippery slopeSlippery slope
In debate or rhetoric, a slippery slope is a classic form of argument, arguably an informal fallacy...
: In order for brinkmanship to be effective, the threats used are continuously escalated. However, a threat is not worth anything unless it is credible; at some point, the aggressive party may have to back up its claim to prove its commitment to action.
The chance of things sliding out of control is also often used as a tool of brinkmanship, because it can provide credibility to an otherwise incredible threat. The Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
presents an example in which opposing leaders, namely John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
, continually issued warnings, with increasing force, about impending nuclear exchanges, without necessarily validating their statements. Pioneering game theorist Thomas Schelling
Thomas Schelling
Thomas Crombie Schelling is an American economist and professor of foreign affairs, national security, nuclear strategy, and arms control at the School of Public Policy at University of Maryland, College Park. He is also co-faculty at the New England Complex Systems Institute...
called this "the threat that leaves something to chance."
The British intellectual Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
compared nuclear brinkmanship to the game of chicken
Chicken (game)
The game of chicken, also known as the hawk-dove or snowdrift game, is an influential model of conflict for two players in game theory...
. The principle between the two is the same, to create immense pressure in a situation until one person or party backs down, or both are annihilated.
See also
- Balance of terrorBalance of terrorThe phrase "balance of terror" is usually used in reference to the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War....
- Brinkmanship (Cold War)Brinkmanship (Cold War)Brinkmanship is a term that was used to refer to the constant competition between the United States of America and the Soviet Union.-Origin:The the term "brinkmanship" was originally coined by United States Secretary of State John Foster Dulles during the height of the Cold War...
- Game theoryGame theoryGame theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
- International crisisInternational crisisAn international crisis is a crisis between states. There are many definitions of an international crisis. Snyder "...a sequence of interactions between the governments of two or more sovereign states in severe conflict, short of actual war, but involving the perception of a dangerously high...
- Massive retaliationMassive retaliationMassive retaliation, also known as a massive response or massive deterrence, is a military doctrine and nuclear strategy in which a state commits itself to retaliate in much greater force in the event of an attack.-Strategy:...
- Mutual assured destructionMutual assured destructionMutual Assured Destruction, or mutually assured destruction , is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of high-yield weapons of mass destruction by two opposing sides would effectively result in the complete, utter and irrevocable annihilation of...
External links
- An analysis of brinkmanship tactics used during the Cuban missile crisis
- Tongil Korea Net: Ridiculous Are Western Media’s Talk about DPRK’s “Brinkmanship Tactics” Commentary by Korean Central News Agency, February 22, 2003.
- http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Willie-Walsh-Criticises-UK-No-fly-Zone-Planes-Flying-After-BA-Boss-Plays-Game-Of-Brinkmanship/Article/201004315611447?lpos=UK_News_Second_Home_Page_Article_Teaser_Region_6&lid=ARTICLE_15611447_Willie_Walsh_Criticises_UK_No-fly_Zone%3A_Planes_Flying_After_BA_Boss_Plays_Game_Of_Brinkmanship.htmlBA boss Willie Walsh shows brinkmanship to end the no fly zone over the UK.]