What makes the threat or ordinary commitment a difficult tactic to employ and an interesting one to study is the problem of finding a means to commitment, the available “penalty” to invoke against one’s own nonperformance. There is consequently a related set of tactics that consists of maneuvering one’s self into a position in which one no longer has any effective choice over how he shall behave or respond. The purpose of these tactics is to get rid of an embarrassing initiative, making the outcome depend solely on the other party’s choice.

Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, loc. 317