Sebastian Joon 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 is also the Faculty Advisor to the Georgetown University Wargaming Society (GUWS), the Co-Chair of the Military Operations Research Society (MORS) Wargaming Community of Practice (CoP), and a Fellow at the Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Creativity. Previously, he served six years in the Marine Corps infantry, leaving as a Sergeant. He deployed to Iraq in 2009.

Research Focus

Commentary

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
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
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

Report
Naval Surface Fire Support: An Assessment of Requirements
The authors developed recommendations to improve existing formal requirements and technological solutions regarding naval surface fire support, a way for the U.S. Navy to provide the equivalent of artillery support for forces operating ashore.
Apr 16, 2020
Research Brief
Creating a Separate Space Force: Challenges and Opportunities for an Effective, Efficient, Independent Space Service
Taking into account the goals of effectiveness, efficiency, independence, and identity, the RAND Corporation proposed the activities that should transfer to the new Space Force and analyzed how best to sustain career fields in the small service.
Mar 13, 2020
Report
A Separate Space: Creating a Military Service for Space
As the United States creates the Space Force as a service within the Department of the Air Force, RAND assessed which units to bring into the Space Force, analyzed career field sustainability and drew lessons from other defense organizations.
Mar 13, 2020
Report
Deterrence in the Age of Thinking Machines
This exploratory report provides an initial examination of how artificial intelligence and autonomous systems could affect deterrence and escalation in conventional crises and conflicts.
Jan 27, 2020
Report
Next-Generation Wargaming for the U.S. Marine Corps: Recommended Courses of Action
The authors evaluate wargaming tools as the U.S. Marine Corps invests in its next-generation wargaming concept. The authors describe wargaming processes, facilities, and skill sets and recommend courses of action.
Oct 16, 2019
Report
Realigning the Stars: A Methodology for Reviewing Active Component General and Flag Officer Requirements
The authors developed and employed a methodology to review general and flag officer requirements in the U.S. military, used results to identify opportunities to eliminate or downgrade positions, and explored the implications of reductions.
Oct 22, 2018