National Security Scholar Jacquelyn Schneider Launches New Hoover Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Initiative

Admiral Gary Roughead, USN (Ret.), and former Congressman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) talk with Hoover Fellow Jaquelyn Schneider on the value of war games for policy making.

National security professionals and other members of the wargaming community gather at Hoover’s Washington, DC, office for the launch of Hoover’s new Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Initiative.

Jaquelyn Schneider outlines three pillars of the Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Initiative: (1) the Wargaming Archive, (2) running war games and simulations, and (3) fostering the wargaming community.

During the launch of the Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Initiative, Jaquelyn Schneider moderates a panel of experts to discuss the value of wargaming for policy makers and national security decision makers.

Former US Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) explains that wargaming is helpful in aligning the congressional budget with defense priorities.

Admiral Gary Roughead, USN (Ret.), former chief of naval operations, explains that well-designed war games prompt defense leaders to think critically about how they would respond to the various scenarios they may experience in an actual conflict.

An audience member asks a question during a session of the workshop on Hoover’s Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Initiative.

An audience member asks a question during a session of the workshop on Hoover’s Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Initiative.

John Emery, assistant professor of international security at the University of Oklahoma, explains how Cold War era intellectuals, who usually advocated bold defense policies, practiced extreme restraint when participating in the RAND Corporation’s Social Science Division Cold War Games in the 1950s.

Stacie Pettyjohn, senior fellow and director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security, argues that nonclassified war games enable participants to think outside the box and challenge the assumptions of defense officials, which are in large part shaped by their access to proprietary knowledge.

Matthew Turpin, visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and former China director on the White House National Security Council, explains how war games help persuade government leaders that their decisions come with consequences which they must inevitably face.

Jaquelyn Schneider moderates a panel discussion of scholars on integrating wargaming into national security decision making.