Buck passing

"The buck stops here" redirects here. For the album by Buck Hill, see The Buck Stops Here (album).
The Scapegoat by William Holman Hunt (1854)

Buck passing, or passing the buck, or sometimes (playing) the blame game, is the act of attributing to another person or group one's own responsibility. It is often used to refer to a strategy in power politics whereby a state tries to get another state to deter or fight an aggressor state while it remains on the sidelines.[1]

  1. ^ John, Mearsheimer (2001). The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 157–58. ISBN 9780393076240.