Brinkmanship-the practice, especially in international politics, of seeking advantage by creating the impression that one is willing and able to push a highly dangerou s situation to the limit rather than concede. It was first used by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles under President Dwight D. Eisenhower throughout his presidency. Gravity crash ultra thin. Yesterday my copy editor objected to my use of the word brinksmanship, recommending that I replace it with brinkmanship. I prefer the version.

noun

• The art or practice of pursuing a dangerous policy to the limits of safety before stopping, especially in politics.

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  ‘in any game of brinkmanship, it is possible that one side will collapse suddenly’

  • ‘But in working out his political strategy, he played a dangerous game of political brinkmanship.’
  • ‘But this game of political brinkmanship has already gone too far.’
  • ‘The latest elections should go some way toward arresting a hitherto dangerous game of brinksmanship.’
  • ‘My intervention came in the nick of time, and tested the very limits of his fistfight brinkmanship.’
  • ‘But there is a game of brinkmanship going on here too.’
  • ‘The appeasement policies encouraged Hitler, the master of brinkmanship.’
  • ‘In his foreign policy, Clinton often combined brinkmanship with indecision over the use of military force.’
  • ‘Melissa in a game of brinkmanship accused Zork of infidelity which enraged him.’
  • ‘But fans of political intrigue at the highest levels of brinkmanship will likely be happy with this film.’
  • ‘Smelling brinksmanship, the media have started piling on.’
  • ‘But it could be also interpreted as further brinksmanship, designed to hurriedly solve its food and oil shortages.’
  • ‘We will know he cares when he stops playing brinksmanship.’
  • ‘Its current brinkmanship is the work of a regime in which moderates have little room left to maneuver.’
  • ‘But there's a strange niggling as we enter into this new era of musical brinkmanship.’
  • ‘The North should rid itself of the illusion that brinkmanship will be effective.’
  • ‘I just want to briefly dabble in disaster brinksmanship.’
  • ‘David Mamet's cinematic creations are often stylized portraits of greed, betrayal and brinksmanship.’
  • ‘But in the federal arena, belligerents on both sides are escalating their brinksmanship.’
  • ‘Burgundian winemakers revel in this brinkmanship.’
  • ‘I mean, if they're playing brinkmanship, I think they're playing with the wrong guy.’

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Attested since 1956. From brink +‎ -manship.

Noun[edit]

brinkmanship (usually uncountable, pluralbrinkmanships)

1. Pursuit of an advantage by appearing to be willing to risk a dangerous policy rather than concede a point.

   The diplomat accused the other nation's leader of brinkmanship for refusing to redeploy the troops along their nations' shared border.

Derived terms[edit]

• brinkman (back-formation)

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• brinkmanship on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “brinkmanship” in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press.