Brinkmanship

The book Brinkmanship: Fear Creation as a Bargaining Tool explains how fear creation can be used to drive an argument to the brink, and by so doing compel parties in a conflict to accept or reject negotiated settlements. Two diametrically opposed kinds of fears may be created. The first and most commonly used since World War I emphasizes the cost of Mutually Hurting Stalemates (MHS) and the associated danger of sliding ¿beyond the brink.¿ The second, popularized by peace economists, is creating fear around the cost of losing Mutually Exciting Opportunities (MEOs). Applying the MHS may cause a conflict to become intractable, especially where at least one of the conflict parties has a true-believer culture. However, creating fear around the MEOs can promote cooperative and integrative resolutions because the urge to collaborate and exchange is more human than suffering to destroy others. Using the frosty United States-North Korea relationship as an example, it is explained how the application of MEOs can lead to improved relationships among countries when mediators are able to do their jobs well.