As in limited war, there again may be two parts to the "cost" imposed on an enemy. One is a direct cost: casualties, destruction, humiliation, or whatever it may be. The other is the created risk of all-out war. Nobody quite knows what happens if one country explodes a nuclear weapon in an enemy country.

Builds on: "Deterrence rests on fear of uncontrolled escalation, not just defeat."

Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, loc. 436