Any action taken to eliminate or reduce the fear of attack or escalation of conflict between two or more parties, as in international politics, interpersonal communication, business interactions, etc. The term is usually pluralized. The two countries, long on the brink of all-out war, have introduced several confidence-building measures between their governments to facilitate better communication and hopefully avert the need for a military offensive by either side. One of our goals in marriage counseling is to create confidence-building measures between spouses, so that each person learns to communicate their frustrations before they turn into a source of conflict.