An act’s coercive cost has both a direct component and a risk-of-escalation component.

Evidence

As in limited war, there again may be two parts to the “cost” imposed on an enemy. One is a direct cost: casualties, destruction, humiliation, or whatever it may be. The other is the created risk of all-out war. Nobody quite knows what happens if one country explodes a nuclear weapon in an enemy country. — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 436

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Legal obligation differs from mere coercion by threat of force — Ronald M. Dworkin, The Model of Rules, 40; Normative obligation differs fundamentally from being threatened into compliance. — Ronald M. Dworkin, The Model of Rules, 47

Broader Connections

• Legal obligation differs from mere coercion by threat of force #expands (0.82) — Ronald M. Dworkin, The Model of Rules, 40
• Normative obligation differs fundamentally from being threatened into compliance. #complicates (0.80) — Ronald M. Dworkin, The Model of Rules, 47