ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the existence of a ‘general’2 concept of stability in Schelling’s work which is applicable across a wide range of particular ‘cases’.3 It will also be shown that Schelling’s general concept is underpinned by his understanding of strategy as a bargaining process where the parties involved are linked by their common interest in avoiding a mutually painful outcome. Schelling’s strategic bargains can be viewed from two main, but complementary, perspectives, resulting in a two-tiered general concept of stability. The first tier is the ability to strike a bargain. The second is the ability to maintain that bargain over the long term.
