Both secrets and certain capabilities are best renounced under mutual suspicion.

Evidence

“Self-defense” becomes peculiarly compounded if we have to worry about his striking us to keep us from striking him to keep him from striking us…The surprise-attack problem, when viewed as a problem of reciprocal suspicion and aggravated “self-defense,” suggests that there are not only secrets we prefer not to keep, but military capabilities we might prefer not to have. — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 525

Categorization

• XREF: The recursive suspicion chain echoes the old-West equalizer passage and the reader’s hostage-mechanic/credible-commitment framework. — connects to: Security rests upon a balance of trust and acceptable risk. — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 92; Cooperation requires both trust and policing in combination.

Related

• Conflict and partnership-distrust situations share one identical game structure (similarity 0.80)
• Small first-strike temptations can compound into attack through interacting expectations alone (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Security rests upon a balance of trust and acceptable risk. #expands (0.80) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 92
• Cooperation requires both trust and policing in combination. #expands (0.78)