Question

What was the point of brinkmanship

Answer 1

The point was that it was negotiation for two parties, they would force interaction between eachother to get an advantage in the negotiation over the other.

Explanation:

Example: this was used as a policy in the US to coerce the Soviet Union into backing down militarily.

Answer 2

In an article written in Life Magazine, John Foster Dulles then defined his policy of brinkmanship as "The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art." During the Cold War, this was used as a policy by the United States to coerce the Soviet Union into backing down militarily.