The Global Questions Series: Number 5 – The Brink, And How To Pull Back From It

Contents

1. Brinkmanship

2. Rhetoric or Action?

3. The Cold War

4. Declining U.S. Power or Self-Inflicted Isolation

5. Bad Actors and The Brink

6. Concluding Remarks

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Bitesize Edition

• It can seem like we’re growing in geopolitical tension as we trend towards a multipolar world. Within this environment, how the players in the game of geopolitics interact with one another is of great importance.

• How game theory and human psychology tie into this is a point to analyse when related to our leaders. Especially when considering that we’re living in an age of escalatory spirals, the existence of mutually assured destruction ensures nuclear powers don’t throw them around for any reason, with only two ever being used. Still, when we continue to rise in these escalatory spirals, how do we pull back?

• This process is known as brinkmanship. As geopolitical powers enter tit-for-tat rising escalations, the limits of safety are tested more frequently. It’s expected that one party will back down and make concessions, but this involves looking weak. What happens if no parties want to back down? Would some geopolitical players take us over the edge of the brink? Find out more in this edition of the Global Questions Series.

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Introduction

Welcome back to the Global Questions Series. In these posts, I dive deeply into the current geopolitical situation of the entire world, and how these concepts relevant to this world we live in interact with one another. If you have any comments in agreement or disagreement, I’d love to hear them! For now, let’s dive into the topic of brinkmanship.