Event: The Art and Science of Wargaming (KCL Wargaming Network Inaugural Lecture)

Date of Recording: 07/12/2018 Description: Dr Peter Perla, 'The Art and Science of Wargaming to Innovate and Educate in an Era of Strategic Competition' What can we know about pressing security challenges through wargaming? How do we know? To mark the establishment of a new Wargaming Network, the School of Security Studies is launching a public lecture series on wargaming. The lectures will examine fundamental challenges for adapting wargaming theory and practice to usefully address contemporary security problems facing the UK and its NATO allies. The UK and its NATO allies have revived their interest in wargaming as a tool for strategic, operational and technological innovation in a new strategic environment marked by the return of major power competition. While the value of wargaming as a method for learning and teaching is well-accepted, its value as a rigorous academic method of inquiry is still largely contested. Dr Perla will re-examine the fundamental theoretical debate of whether wargaming should be considered an art or a science in the context of the changed security environment. The aim of the talk is to bring wargaming theory and practice to a new multi-disciplinary epistemological ground that would enable its useful contribution to advancing knowledge, informing policy and furthering education.