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Simulation as a Possible Tool for Peace

In this article the author traces prog ress of socio-economic modeling and simulation since WW II to support his contention that the need is clear, and the technology adequate, to support Peace Gam ing, in contrast to War Gaming.

War Gaming, of one kind or another, has been used throughout history to help understand how wars might be won, but since the advent of powerful com puters the practice has grown exponentially—witness the size of DMSO (the Defense Modeling and Simula tion Office) of DOD.

Why not Peace Gaming? In Peace Gaming a model is developed to represent as nearly as possible the real- world situation with respect to a conflict of leaders' objectives, or to an actual war. Players are assigned to represent real-world antagonists and charged with the responsibility to work out peaceful resolution of the conflict of interests.

In our real world this is not always possible, usually due to the intransigence of one or more players. But both players and observers gain much-needed under standing of the problem and the people involved, and why proposed solutions might not work. And nobody gets killed!

Key Words: Peace gaming • war gaming • socio-economic modeling and simulation • World Problematique • Club of Rome • Limits to Growth

SIMULATION, Vol. 72, No. 5, 348-352 (1999)
DOI: 10.1177/003754979907200511


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