Tacit limits require qualitative boundaries amenable to complete abstention

Evidence

In Korea, weapons were limited by the qualitative distinction between atomic and all other; it would surely have been much more difficult to stabilize a tacit acceptance of any limit on size of atomic weapons or selection of targets. {37} No definition of size or target is so obvious and natural that it goes without saying, except for “no size, on any target.” American assistance to the French forces in Indochina was persuasively limited to material, not people; and it was appreciated that an enlargement to include, say, air participation could be recognized as limited to air, while it would not be possible to establish a limited amount of air or ground participation. One’s intentions to abstain from ground intervention can be conveyed by the complete withholding of ground forces; one cannot nearly so easily commit some forces and communicate a persuasive limit to the amount that one intends to commit. — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 194

Categorization

• XREF: The indivisibility of commitment (all or nothing as communicable) parallels hostage mechanics and Godfather-bond credibility in the reader’s Gambetta mapping. — connects to: Limits emerge through tacit jockeying and need unique focal qualities. — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 600; Simple discrete salient limits enable coordinated expectations. — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 602; Restrained competition everywhere favors discrete qualitative over graded limits — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 196 (+1 more)

Related

• Limits emerge through tacit jockeying and need unique focal qualities. (similarity 0.85)
• Simple discrete salient limits enable coordinated expectations. (similarity 0.81)
• Tacit agreements need qualitatively distinct terms that may discriminate against one party (similarity 0.80)
• Restrained competition everywhere favors discrete qualitative over graded limits (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Restrained competition everywhere favors discrete qualitative over graded limits #corroborates (0.92) — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 196
• Tacit agreements need qualitatively distinct terms that may discriminate against one party #expands (0.82) — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 190