Domino Theory

An assertion that if we do A or if we don’t do A, then B will happen, then C will happen, etc., and likens the future course of events to a row of dominoes standing on end knocking others over, for example, President Eisenhower and the beginnings of the U. S. entanglement in Vietnam. Less often a weaker version is presented implying use of the verb “may” instead of “will”.

Can be either deliberate or an inadvertent error and usually involves an oversimplification of events and a misunderstanding of how well these future circumstances can be predicted or averted.

There can, however, be situations in which the crisis or threat is sufficiently clear-cut, pressing, and well-understood to justify a decision to act on the basis of what is advanced as the most likely outcome. (see for example: Global warming threat) Too frequently though the accuracy of such forecasts about the unfolding of events involves excessive speculation, and the actions said to be necessary to prevent disaster requires a leap far beyond the most sympathetic evaluation or analysis of the evidence currently available.