The brink is not, in this view, the sharp edge of a cliff where one can stand firmly, look down, and decide whether or not to plunge. The brink is a curved slope that one can stand on with some risk of slipping, the slope gets steeper and the risk of slipping greater as one moves toward the chasm. But the slope and the risk of slipping are rather irregular; neither the person standing there nor onlookers can be quite sure just how great the risk is, or how much it increases when one takes a few more steps downward. One does not, in brinkmanship, frighten the adversary who is roped to him by getting so close to the edge that if one decides to jump one can do so before anyone can stop him. Brinkmanship involves getting onto the slope where one may fall in spite of his own best efforts to save himself, dragging his adversary with him.

DEFINE: Redefines brinkmanship by contrast with a cliff-edge metaphor; key insight is the slope where one may fall despite best efforts, dragging the adversary along. Builds on: "Limited war can deliberately risk total war to deter escalation."

Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, loc. 448