ABSTRACT
This chapter considers Rungs 4-9, which fall between the "Don't rock the boat" and "Nuclear war is unthinkable" thresholds. It examines what happens when a disagreement is allowed to reach a crisis stage—where opponents do not agree to disagree peacefully, and both sides feel that something will happen before the disagreement is laid to rest. A spectacular example of a traditional crisis was the Cuban missile crisis of October, 1962. One of the most interesting documents that came out of the Cuban missile crisis was President Kennedy's dramatic television address of October 22, 1962. Harassing acts can also be verbal, either abusive or threatening in nature. The exact level of escalation that is reached by any particular harassing act of violence depends upon details. If the act is carried out clandestinely or covertly—under the guise of being an individually motivated act of banditry or some other spontaneous individual action—the escalation is relatively low.
