Being unpredictable is not the same thing as being random. In chess or even football or other sports, you don't want to telegraph to your competitor what your n

Being unpredictable is not the same thing as being random. In chess or even football or other sports, you don't want to telegraph to your competitor what your next move is. For example if the other team knows you always run a draw play on first down, then obviously that becomes easy to defend. Or if you always use the same opening in chess, etc. So unpredictability as a strategy can work but only if you do something that makes sense. Just being random is not a good strategy. Making it difficult for your competitor to anticipate your next move can be a good strategy. In international affairs however, being unpredictable can be a liability because if your advisory is not sure if your next move is to push the big red button or not, then they may mistakenly retaliate too quickly. I think that is what concerns a lot of people including me.