Risky brinkmanship with an unstable North Korean regime, Kyle Beardsley writes Op-Ed
The game of chicken is commonly used to describe conflicts between states armed with nuclear weapons. Also referred to as "brinkmanship," leaders of nuclear states know that it is not credible to threaten the initiation of nuclear war, but they try to use the risk of nuclear hostilities to get their opponents to back down.
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But we are just an ultimatum away from a situation in which one side will have to swerve in order to avoid disaster. Moreover, the gameplay in 2017 is especially concerning for at least three reasons.