Similar to decomposing a threat into a series is starting a threat with a punitive act that grows in severity with the passage of time. Where a threat of death by violence might not be credited, cutting off the food supply might bring submission. … Furthermore, the threatener may be embarrassed by his adversary’s collapse but not by his discomfort; and the device may therefore transform a dangerous once-for-all threat into a less costly continuous one. Tenants are less easily removed by threat of forcible eviction than by simply shutting off the utilities.

DEFINE: This explains the 'continuous growing threat' device as a distinct coercive tactic in Schelling's taxonomy. XREF: Connects to Schelling's broader theory of coercive bargaining and deterrence curves.

Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, loc. 111