8 January 2015 - naked power 6

Jay Scott : Daily Whale : archive : 2015 : 8 January 2015

Compare Nixon’s Madman Theory

Isn’t it obvious that randomness makes it harder to slice salami? Would you slice salami if you weren’t quite sure what would happen with the sharp knife? Game theory agrees with you, and the only disadvantage is that the strategy is impure, or as the opposing party says, dirty.

clue:

Referring to China’s (random!) “salami slicing” to gradually take territory, as in the South China Sea and the unsettled border with India. Taking the whole salami at once would start a war.

Western officialdom understands the deterrent value of vagueness (“NATO is dead serious and will intervene in full force the very instant our fuzzy red line is violated!”) but does not understand the value of randomness. To them it looks like risk. A weird disconnect.

take oh take this clue away