Brinkmanship is the type of political behavior that reaches dangerous territory. During the Cold War, brinkmanship involved the threat of using nuclear weapons.

Containment was part of American foreign policy in the Cold War period. The goal of this policy was to check the spread of Communism around the world.

The domino theory of the Cold War period suggested that the rise of a Communist government in one country would lead to similar political developments in other countries akin to falling dominoes. The domino theory was linked to containment and the Truman Doctrine.