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Wargaming

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
The Most Popular RAND Research of 2020
Dec 21, 2020
Here are the RAND research projects that resonated most in 2020, a year unlike any in living memory. Topics include remote learning, election disinformation, income inequality, and more.
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Wargaming
blog
Now You Can Play RAND Games at Home
Nov 10, 2020
RAND is famous for its Pentagon wargames. Now the public can play defense analyst, too. In RAND's new game, Hedgemony, players create a military strategy to allocate troops and resources and hedge against the unknown.
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Joint Operations
commentary
Two Vignettes: How Might Combat Operations Be Different Under the Information Joint Function?
Christopher Paul
Oct 8, 2020
Mad Scientist Laboratory Blog
RAND researcher Christopher Paul employs storytelling to illustrate two distinct approaches to Joint Combat Operations. While both vignettes result in the expulsion of adversary forces and the restoration of territorial integrity, they take different approaches to kinetic and informational power.
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Information Operations
blog
How Russia Targets U.S. Elections, Black Workers and COVID-19, TikTok: RAND Weekly Recap
Oct 2, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on how Russia targets U.S. elections, Americans' increased alcohol consumption during the pandemic, Black workers and COVID-19, and more.
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Wargaming
commentary
Why Militaries Should Play Games with Each Other
Jonathan Cham @JonathanKCham, Deon Canyon
Aug 14, 2020
Honolulu Civil Beat
With rising rates of COVID-19 and vulnerable populations at risk, Hawaii's people are understandably nervous about the upcoming Rim of the Pacific exercise scheduled for August. But COVID-19 cannot be a blanket check on international engagement by the U.S. military. With the effects of COVID-19 expected to last for decades, the forward thinking found in games may be exactly what is needed.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
Preparing for a COVID-19 Election, Hurricane Response, North Korea: RAND Weekly Recap
Aug 7, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on preparing for a COVID-19 election, how the pandemic is affecting artists, North Korea's deadly artillery, and more.
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Wargaming
commentary
Wargaming the Department of Defense for Strategic Advantage
Elizabeth M. Bartels @elliebartels
Aug 3, 2020
War Room
Defense acquisition, personnel, and management systems have long been seen as areas in need of reform, as costs and man-hours continue to increase over the years. Gaming new policies that govern these areas can offer early insights into potential stumbling blocks and provide leaders valuable feedback on decisions before major costs are incurred.
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Wargaming
commentary
What Strategic Decisions on the Horizon for the Department of Defense Can Best Be Shaped Through Wargaming?
Sebastian Joon Bae
Aug 3, 2020
War Room
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.
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Wargaming
commentary
How Can Wargaming Improve Government Response to Catastrophic Events?
Sebastian Joon Bae
May 29, 2020
War Room
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.
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Wargaming
q&a
The Serious Side of Gaming: Q&A with Yuna Wong
May 8, 2020
Yuna Wong, codirector of RAND's Center for Gaming, didn't expect to make gaming a focus of her career. In this interview, she discusses what drew her to the field, what makes a good wargame, and her latest research on the dangers of putting too much trust in artificial intelligence.
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Wargaming
commentary
Book Review: 'A Game of Birds and Wolves' by Simon Parkin
Stacie L. Pettyjohn @StaciePettyjohn
Jan 30, 2020
Science
In A Game of Birds and Wolves, journalist Simon Parkin reports on a long overlooked piece of World War II's Battle of the Atlantic. Captain Gilbert Roberts enlisted the Women's Royal Naval Service to build and run a game modeling a two-sided tactical fight between British escorts and German U-boats.
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Artificial Intelligence
commentary
What Chess Can Teach Us About the Future of AI and War
Andrew J. Lohn @andrewjlohn
Jan 3, 2020
War on the Rocks
Will artificial intelligence (AI) change warfare? It's hard to say. AI itself is not new, but AI as a critical factor in competitions is relatively novel and, as a result, there's not much data to draw from. Perhaps the most interesting examples are in the world of chess.
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China
blog
China's 70th Anniversary, Wargaming, Fentanyl: RAND Weekly Recap
Oct 4, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on what the future holds for China, the importance of gender diversity in wargaming, how Army families address life's challenges, and more.
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Opioids
blog
Synthetic Opioids, Mass Shootings, Prison Education: RAND Weekly Recap
Aug 30, 2019
This weekly recap looks at fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, how to address mass shootings, higher education in prison, and more.
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Wargaming
essay
A Wargame at RAND Puts Teen Girls in Command
Aug 20, 2019
RAND analysts developed and hosted a wargame to help young women learn firsthand about national security. It's a lesson in strategy, in the hard realities behind news headlines, but also in agility and resilience. In that, it's not so far removed from the daily life of a teenage girl.
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Adolescents
blog
Boris Johnson, Teacher Training, Youth Arrests: RAND Weekly Recap
Jul 26, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on Boris Johnson's Brexit challenge, how educators feel about their training programs, a spike in youth arrests, and more.
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Information Operations
blog
And, By the Way, They Were All Women: RAND Hosts Forum on 21st-Century Warfare Honoring Roberta Wohlstetter
Nov 26, 2018
National security experts, flag officers, and decisionmakers attended the Roberta Wohlstetter Forum on National Security at RAND's Washington office on October 24. The featured speakers, moderators, organizers, donor, and namesake for the event were all women.
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Wargaming
commentary
Building a Pipeline of Wargaming Talent: A Two-Track Solution
Elizabeth M. Bartels @elliebartels
Nov 15, 2018
War on the Rocks
How does the Department of Defense imagine the future of war and make long-term investments to confront the challenges ahead? On issues ranging from potential conflicts with Russia to the future of transportation and logistics, senior leaders have increasingly turned to wargames to imagine potential futures.
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Wargaming
commentary
Just Let Them Compete: Raising the Next Generation of Wargamers
Sebastian Joon Bae
Oct 9, 2018
War on the Rocks
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.
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Wargaming
commentary
Adding Shots on Target: Wargaming Beyond the Game
Elizabeth M. Bartels @elliebartels
Oct 9, 2017
War on the Rocks
Figuring out what the future may look like—and what concepts and technology we should invest in now to prepare—is hard. How can the wargaming community build a cycle of research to help understand what these paths might be?
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Wargaming
q&a
Gaming and Public Policy: Q&A with David Shlapak
Aug 11, 2016
David Shlapak discusses how using games in research can help improve decisionmaking across a wide range of areas, including national security, health care, and climate change.
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Wargaming
commentary
In Defense of a Wargame: Bolstering Deterrence on NATO's Eastern Flank
Karl P. Mueller, David A. Shlapak, Michael Johnson, David Ochmanek
Jun 14, 2016
War on the Rocks
A series of wargames examined the potential results of a Russian invasion of the Baltic states. While such an invasion appears unlikely, its consequences would be so dangerous that not taking steps to deter it more robustly would be imprudent.
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Wargaming
commentary
How Can Gaming Help Test Your Theory?
Yuna Huh Wong
May 18, 2016
PAXsims
The act of designing a game will force you to articulate your theory or to be more specific about it. It will also require you to operationalize your variables and theoretical constructs of interest into a specific context, and prompt you to anticipate the ways in which it may play out in that scenario.
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Russia
commentary
Outnumbered, Outranged, and Outgunned: How Russia Defeats NATO
David A. Shlapak, Michael Johnson
Apr 21, 2016
War on the Rocks
Today NATO is outnumbered, outranged, and outgunned by Russia in Europe and beset by a number of compounding factors that make the situation worse. But it is possible to begin restoring a more robust deterrent posture and to do so at a price tag that appears affordable.
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Wargaming
commentary
Gaming the System: Obstacles to Reinvigorating Defense Wargaming
Stacie L. Pettyjohn @StaciePettyjohn, David A. Shlapak
Feb 18, 2016
War on the Rocks
Reinvigorating wargaming in the defense community offers great potential value given the complex strategic situation that the U.S. faces today. DoD should educate sponsors and consumers about the appropriate use of wargames, set realistic expectations, and build the right amount of risk acceptance into its gaming enterprise.
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Wargaming
commentary
Getting the Most Out of Your Wargame: Practical Advice for Decisionmakers
Elizabeth M. Bartels @elliebartels
Jan 26, 2016
War on the Rocks
While some famous historical cases offer a compelling narrative of what wargames can be at their best and worst, they cannot illustrate the full range of contemporary wargaming that leaders should strive to achieve. A better understanding of how wargames can be helpful — or how they can backfire — is critical.
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Civil-Military Relations
commentary
A Funny Thing Happened When These Military Officers and Academics Got Together
Paula G. Thornhill
Apr 6, 2015
Defense One
If senior military officers and academics find themselves divided, is there a way to build respect and trust earlier in their careers? A tabletop exercise suggested that the best way to bridge the civilian-military divide is not via large conferences or formal papers. Instead, it can be done by building trust, one person at a time, over time.
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Military Strategy
commentary
Anatomy of a War Game
Bruce W. Bennett @bwbennett
Jun 12, 2012
World Policy Blog
War games are especially important as countries prepare to counter adversaries who use asymmetric strategies or weapons, forcing military planners to deal with unfamiliar threats, writes Bruce Bennett.
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