Etymology

brinkmanship

brink·man·ship
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Today it means: The pursuit of an advantage by appearing to be willing to take a matter to the brink (for example, by risking a dangerous policy) rather than to concede a point. Full definition →

First used mid 1950s
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The story

From brink (“border, edge”) + -manship (suffix denoting expertise, involvement, or special status in an area).

First known use, by meaning

  • from mid 1950s The pursuit of an advantage by appearing to be willing to take a matter to the brink (for example, by risking a dangerous policy) rather than to concede a point.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.