Some years ago, I heard the late Herman Kahn, founder of the Hudson Institute and a kind of global-strategic polymath, suggest a surefire way to win the game of “chicken,” in which two drivers aim their cars at each other and whoever veers away first is “chicken.” Kahn advised that anyone determined to win should get into his car obviously drunk, aim it squarely at his opponent, step on the accelerator, and, with 30 yards’ distance to cover, throw the steering wheel out the window.

Did Kahn ever meet Donald Trump? His chicken strategy looks suspiciously like an early move in …