It is hard to dispute the conclusion that Thomas Schelling has made an original (and very important) contribution to the study of strategy. But this originality can take a number of forms. On the one hand, he may have been thoroughly original in the sense that his approach had not been explored before in either the strategic studies literature or in any other academic discipline. This would have been something of a rarity in the history of ideas. On the other hand, he may have an original contribution in terms of bringing a new approach to strategy but one bearing the hallmarks of ideas from the other disciplines which had most influenced his thinking.