brinkmanship
noun
brink·man·ship ˈbriŋk-mən-ˌship 
variants or less commonly brinksmanship
ˈbriŋ(k)s-mən-ˌship
: the art or practice of pushing a dangerous situation or confrontation to the limit of safety especially to force a desired outcome
Example Sentences
two nations caught up in nuclear brinksmanship
Recent Examples on the Web That type of maneuver — a mix of boldness and brinkmanship — is typical of Laporta, who benefits from a cult of personality unmatched by previous presidents during the club’s modern history. 
New York Times, 3 Aug. 2022 Relations hit their lowest ebb since the Cold War in recent months, with insults, warnings and military brinkmanship threatening a continuing downward spiral. Washington Post, 15 June 2021 And anxiety that President Vladimir V. Putin may not switch the gas back on — as a display of brinkmanship with countries that oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — is particularly sharp. New York Times, 15 July 2022 That Simeone’s team had been able to run City so close was not despite its brinkmanship, but because of it. New York Times, 13 Apr. 2022 The limitations on what those majorities can do is rapidly attenuating, and if voters don’t send a contrary message, the result will be a combustible mix of greater polarization, partisan brinkmanship and heightened election stakes. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 21 Jan. 2022 Wagner’s car rolled off of a VW Beetle assembly line in 1962, the year Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev played nuclear brinkmanship with President Kennedy. Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2022 The country will now face early elections after days of brinkmanship in which Mr. Khan tried to dissolve Parliament to head off the no-confidence vote. New York Times, 9 Apr. 2022 An atomic test would be the first globally in more than four years and add to concerns about the risks of nuclear brinkmanship amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. Jon Herskovitz, Bloomberg.com, 7 Apr. 2022 See More
New York Times, 3 Aug. 2022 Relations hit their lowest ebb since the Cold War in recent months, with insults, warnings and military brinkmanship threatening a continuing downward spiral. Washington Post, 15 June 2021 And anxiety that President Vladimir V. Putin may not switch the gas back on — as a display of brinkmanship with countries that oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — is particularly sharp. New York Times, 15 July 2022 That Simeone’s team had been able to run City so close was not despite its brinkmanship, but because of it. New York Times, 13 Apr. 2022 The limitations on what those majorities can do is rapidly attenuating, and if voters don’t send a contrary message, the result will be a combustible mix of greater polarization, partisan brinkmanship and heightened election stakes. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 21 Jan. 2022 Wagner’s car rolled off of a VW Beetle assembly line in 1962, the year Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev played nuclear brinkmanship with President Kennedy. Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2022 The country will now face early elections after days of brinkmanship in which Mr. Khan tried to dissolve Parliament to head off the no-confidence vote. New York Times, 9 Apr. 2022 An atomic test would be the first globally in more than four years and add to concerns about the risks of nuclear brinkmanship amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. Jon Herskovitz, Bloomberg.com, 7 Apr. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1956, in the meaning defined above