One of the most influential activities in war planning is gaming alternative military scenarios. In fact, every major military power has conducted wargames since the turn of the century.
NPEC has done its bit designing and hosting a number of games. In recognition of its work, Dr. Jacquelyn Schneider, director of the Hoover Institution’s Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Initiative, asked to interview me.
If you’re curious about wargaming and what it entails, you’ll want to take a look and listen in. The interview is divided into 17 sections. Attached is the URL for the full interview with the 17 questions and their timestamps so you can jump to the questions that interest you most.
As always, I’m curious to get your take. You can watch the full video here.
As Ever,
Henry S .
Hoover Institution’s Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Interview with Henry Sokolski
(For the full video, click here.)
Timestamps & Questions:
| 0:00 | Introduction | |
| 9:36 | Who were the participants in these wargames? | |
| 12:37 | Could you describe your experience working with Andy Marshall at the Office of Net Assessment? | |
| 13:07 | What was your experience playing in the Defense Department games & how do you believe these games could be improved? | |
| 15:31 | Could you explain the mission of NPEC and the role that wargames play? | |
| 19:26 | What makes an effective scenario for a wargame? | |
| 21:03 | What has been your experience with nuclear policy and nuclear wargames? | |
| 22:28 | What have been the most impactful games that you have run at NPEC? | |
| 25:29 | Could you describe your experience with and the results of the 2021 NPEC game – Arresting Nuclear Adventurism? | |
| 27:41 | Could you describe your experience with and the results of the 2022 NPEC game – China Waging War in Space? | |
| 31:36 | Should the quality of a wargame be judged based on its accuracy in predicting real-world outcomes? | |
| 32:58 | What do you think makes a wargame “good” or “bad”? | |
| 35:02 | What is one game that you think stood out as particularly effective? | |
| 38:55 | How do you think your unclassified games fit into the landscape of wargaming? | |
| 39:39 | What is your process for selecting a wargame topic? | |
| 41:08 | Do the interests of potential funders limit the wargaming topics that you can explore? | |
| 42:03 | Could you describe the process for creating, designing, and playing an NPEC wargame? | |
| 45:08 | How do you define a wargame? |