What was the policy of 'Brinksmanship'?

Answer 1

President Eisenhower's Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, advocated the international policy of "brinksmanship" in our foreign dealings with the Soviet Union during the 1950s. The policy was to threaten the enemy by going to the "brink of war." Your enemy would assume you would go all the way and would "back down" at the last minute, as you approaced the "brink" of war. Not all politicians at that time favored this policy. MrV

Answer 2

Brinkmanship is a negotiation tactic where delays, incremental threats and escalations are used to intimidate your opponent. It's like bringing something to the "brink" of disaster, to save it at the last minute. Brinkmanship became prominent between nations internationally after WW2 when countries possessed nuclear weapons--the idea was to gain an advantage by making it seem like your finger was on the button to launch all nuclear weapons at once unless your opponent made some compromises.