Sebastian Joon Bae

Photo of Sebastian Bae
Defense Analyst
Washington Office

Education

BA in peace & conflict studies, UC Berkeley; MA in security studies, Georgetown University

Overview

Sebastian J. Bae, a defense analyst at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation, works in wargaming, emerging technologies, the future of warfare, and strategy and doctrine for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. He also serves as an adjunct assistant professor at the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University, where he teaches a graduate course on designing educational wargames. He teaches similar courses at the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College and U.S. Naval Academy. He is also the faculty advisor to the Georgetown University Wargaming Society, the Co-Chair of the Military Operations Research Society Wargaming Community of Practice, a Fellow at the Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Creativity, and serves on the Executive Committee for the Educational Wargaming Cooperative. Previously, he served six years in the Marine Corps infantry, leaving as a sergeant. He deployed to Iraq in 2009. 

Research Focus

Commentary

  • A reconstruction of the Prussian military wargame Kriegsspiel, based on a ruleset developed by Georg Heinrich Rudolf Johann von Reiswitz in 1824, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kriegsspiel_1824.jpg">photo</a> by <a href="https://twitter.com/mkirschenbaum/status/815032700209860609">Matthew Kirschenbaum</a> / <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">CC BY 4.0</a>

    Use Wargaming to Sharpen the Tactical Edge

    As a growing consensus embraces the utility of educational wargaming, a more daunting question remains: Can the Joint Force integrate and sustain educational wargaming in the operating forces? The challenges are substantial, but they are not insurmountable. The answer depends on bold leadership, sufficient tools, and eager partners.

    Mar 8, 2021 War Room

  • A U.S. Marine with the 3rd Marine Division moves game pieces during a game of Memoir 44’ on Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Japan, Dec. 10, 2019

    What Strategic Decisions on the Horizon for the Department of Defense Can Best Be Shaped Through Wargaming?

    The U.S. Marine Corps is not alone in its avid use of wargaming to shape its decisions of the future. The other services are conducting similar efforts with equal rigor and zeal. And as the national deficit grows and budgetary constraints mount, the Department of Defense will most likely increasingly leverage all its analytical tools, including wargaming.

    Aug 3, 2020 War Room

  • The Hawaii National Guard hosting the 2018 Pacific Rim: Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Response, Enterprise Wargame at its Joint Force Headquarters in Honolulu, HI, July 10, 2018, photo by Tech. Sgt. Andrew Jackson/U.S. Air National Guard

    How Can Wargaming Improve Government Response to Catastrophic Events?

    Wargames are abstracted models of national security challenges, where players' decisions and their consequences are adjudicated within a rules-based environment. Due to its inherent flexibility as a tool, wargaming can be applied to a wide range of issues. Yet, it is important to understand what wargaming can and cannot do.

    May 29, 2020 War Room

  • Naval Postgraduate School students participate in analytic wargames they designed to explore solutions for some of DoD's most pressing national security concerns

    Just Let Them Compete: Raising the Next Generation of Wargamers

    Wargames are games that simulate aspects of warfare at varying levels, aimed at analyzing human decisionmaking. To develop the next generation of avid wargamers, the first step is both radical and simple: Let them compete.

    Oct 9, 2018 War on the Rocks

Publications