Researchers are also able to craft games that push directly on problems of interest, offering them control over the players’ experience. Wargames also allow players-whether current or former policymakers or other populations of interest-to engage with tactical, operational, and strategic problems in all of their complexity (or, at least, more complexity than formal approaches or survey methods). They represent an immersive synthetic environment in which players engage in strategic interaction and must live with the consequences of their decisions. There is a great deal to like about wargames. Currently wargames are designed and executed predominantly as descriptive or correlational studies and thus are not suitable for uncovering the kinds of causal relationships required to inform these sorts of policy challenges. While they are useful in studying potential conflicts, one must consider whether wargames are appropriate for drawing these sorts of inferences. To address this challenge, policymakers often rely on inferences drawn from wargames-strategy and analytical games that simulate tactical, operational, and strategic aspects of conflict. ![]() Though they address a wide range of issues in strategy, security, and foreign policy, each of these questions poses a common challenge for analysts and policymakers: In the absence of observational data, how can they make a prediction about the state of the world? How can the United States deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan? Will Russia use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine? Do hypersonic weapons make the world less stable? Should military planners integrate decision support algorithms into nuclear command and control?
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