Word Study
brinkmanship
CIDE DICTIONARY
brinkmanship, n. [brink + -manship. (1956).].
the policy or practise of pushing a dangerous situation to the brink of disaster (to the limits of safety), in order to achieve the most advantageous outcome; -- used especially of diplomatic maneuvers in crisis situations, and originally applied to the policies of John Foster Dulles under President Eisenhower. [WordNet 1.5]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
brinkmanship, n. the art or policy of pursuing a dangerous course to the brink of catastrophe before desisting.
THESAURUS
brinkmanship
Eisenhower Doctrine, Monroe Doctrine, Nixon Doctrine, Truman Doctrine, adventurousness, appeasement, audaciousness, audacity, balance of power, boldness, coexistence, colonialism, compromise, containment, courage fou, courting disaster, daredevilry, daredeviltry, daring, detente, deterrence, diplomacy, diplomatic, diplomatics, dollar diplomacy, dollar imperialism, expansionism, fire-eating, flirting with death, foolhardiness, foreign affairs, foreign policy, forwardness, going for broke, good-neighbor policy, harebrainedness, imperialism, internationalism, isolationism, manifest destiny, militarism, nationalism, neocolonialism, neutralism, nonresistance, open door, open-door policy, peace offensive, peaceful coexistence, playing with fire, preparedness, presumption, presumptuousness, shirt-sleeve diplomacy, shuttle diplomacy, spheres of influence, the big stick, tough policy, world politicsFor further exploring for "brinkmanship" in Webster Dictionary Online