Merle Robinson
Wargames are as old as civilization, and perhaps older. This is an overview of the development of wargaming from the End of World War II to today. Part 2 of How Wargames Have Shaped History and How They May Shape the Future. Presenter: Colonel Matt Caffrey (USAF, ret.), the “Dean” of Air Force Wargaming and […]
How wargames assist with the advance of innovation. Evolution of wargames as tools for understanding the past and shaping the future. Presenter: Colonel Matt Caffrey (USAF, ret.), the “Dean” of Air Force Wargaming and author of “On wargaming,” a US Naval War College free publication available at https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/newport-papers/43/
It has been said the foundations of science are observation and classification. Together they enable the forming of hypotheses that enable later applications. This focuses on the utility of wargames, and varied approaches, to wargaming. Part 3 of How Wargames Have Shaped History and How They May Shape the Future. Presenter: Colonel Matt Caffrey (USAF, […]
Overview, analysis and insights on current and near-future world affairs. This panel discussion and seminar, the signature event of the National Security Decision Making Game (NSDMG) staff, explores current, and potential future, problem areas around the world with a focus on domestic/international areas they feel deserve may not have gotten the attention from the media […]
A discussion of the current events and expectations over the next five years in Eastern Europe from the Arctic to the Mediterranean. Covers lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war, consequences of the war, and the changing view of European security. Presented by Merle Robinson, lead simulation designer and retired DoD analyst, with Captain Mark McDonagh, USN/Ret. […]
Find out how a near future World War Three situation can become fast and deadly. Bring your imagination for a freewheeling game of international war/peace where you vie for power as decision-maker within your nation and the world in a near-future scenario. Political, Military, Nuclear, Biological and Cyber capabilities all are part of the fun. […]
Geopolitical, military and economic role-playing game. Players take senior leadership positions in a real-world nation. Here’s the game: You players are the politicians. You over there, you’re the Cabinet. You folks over by the big maps are the Generals and Admirals. Here’s your country; you’ve heard of it, it’s not fictional, it’s real, and so […]
Discussing NSDM’s new American Revolution Crisis MegaGame variant, the NSDM game design team will discuss insights gained in creating a model of the event for roll playing purposes. What historical figures to include, to amalgamate, or to exclude? What historical events to plan as inserts, what to leave out, what counter-factual events to stimulate game […]
Historical, fast-paced, crisis-oriented version of the NSDM geopolitical-military-economic RPG. As we observe the 250th anniversary of key events in the American Revolution, it is a good time to reflect on the personalities, agendas, events and energies that drove decisions. From the end of the French and Indian War to the first battles of the American […]
The invention of fixed wing aircraft led to the expansion of warfare into an additional dimension during the First World War. This seminar looks to answer your questions and examine what the history of air warfare, aerial combat, air-to-ground and air-to-sea warfare, and Isaac Newton, can tell us about the use of magic in aerial […]
Continued discussion of current military/political/economic topics of interest/concern, analysis and insights on current/future world affairs. This seminar led by the National Security Decision Making (NSDM) Game staff, explores current, and potential future, problem areas around the world. Want to know what to expect in the next year? What might happen and what are its implications? […]
Building on past War Magic seminars for the Writers’ Track, in which we have discussed how armies fight, this time we answer your questions and examine how armies are raised, organized, fed, paid, etc., the who, what, where, when and how that enable armies to do what they do, and how these functions may be […]
Geopolitical, military and economic RPG set in the 1980s. With the US administration changing and with Brezhnev reaching his personal expiration date, the world is about to change. But how? Players take senior positions in the US, UK, USSR, Israel, Red China or Cuba, dealing with domestic and international events. This isn’t history, but rather […]
Geopolitical, military and economic role-playing game. Take senior leadership positions in the US, USSR, UK, Israel, Red China or Cuba, dealing with domestic and international events. Scenario: it’s 1961. But the future isn’t set. It’s all history up to this point. But then, these strange things start to happen. Deal with them. Do you feel […]
Overview, analysis and insights on current and near-future world affairs. This panel discussion and seminar, the signature event of the National Security Decision Making (NSDM) Game staff, explores current, and potential future, problem areas around the world. Want to know what to expect in the next year? What might happen and what are its implications? […]
Negotiated between November 1921 and February 1922, the Washington Naval Treaty between the World War I allies US, Britain, France, Italy and Japan averted a naval arms race. It ended the construction of new battleships and battlecruisers, placed armament and displacement limitations on aircraft carriers and cruisers, and prohibited construction of any new fortifications or […]
An overview of modern military thought on fighting in the world’s megacities. As the global population grows and cities become ever denser, military planners are preparing for near future conflict scenarios in and around urban megacities. Particularly in the developing world, how will new technologies-UAVs, robots, AI, space-based platforms-be employed in these challenging environments? Panel […]
An overview of emerging tools, approaches, and fields that are entering into current and future military conflicts. Presenter: Merle Robinson of the National Security Decision Making, Inc staff.
In space, no one can hear you scream, but everyone can see you fly. The geography of warfare in space is dominated not by distances as most would think, but by delta-v and sensors. How everything we know about fighting on the land, sea, and air won’t help us in space. What is up there […]
Electromagnetic Pulse, or EMP, has become a favorite boogieman of authors and screenplay writers depicting apocalyptic scenarios. But what is the real history and what is the potential for EMP weapons, terrorism and attacks? What is the mechanism and what affects the damage done? Lecture attempts to separate the facts, engineering and science from the […]
Near-future, 2-hour crisis-oriented variant of the geopolitical, military and economic role-playing National Security Decision Making MegaGame with futuristic and science fiction elements. Take a senior leadership in the US, China, Russia, or other major power, facing a world crisis that might be tomorrow’s real-world headline. It’s the world almost as you know it, everything’s normal, […]
American Revolution, Rebels & Redcoats 1774-1781, Sinews of War#1. Examination of the critical levers of power used by Colonials, England, and their Allies and mercenaries through the first stage of the conflict in the colonies. Focus is on the diplomatic, intelligence, military & economics (DIME) of the conflict. Lecture covers how forces were financed, organized, […]
Start of Cold War: US & Soviet navies need to stake claims in their respective national security constructs. Soviets can’t compete with West’s navies symmetrically, made same decision the Germans had in both world wars: make a submarine force able to cut Atlantic supply lines. US submarine service recognized where Soviets were heading, evolved existing […]
Lecture discusses recent history of drone use in Ukraine and other theaters. Describes synergy of drone use with advanced robotic and artificial intelligence. What drones can do under the right conditions. Drone units, drone carriers, drones for combat, drones as wingmen and combat support for piloted combat aircraft, for surveillance and for auxiliary duties. Where […]
With combat raging across Ukrainian nuclear reactor sites and sites changing hands between Ukraine and Russia, with shells, rockets and missiles landing inside the sites’ perimeters, concerns of nuclear accidents spring to mind with memories of Three Mile Island, Fukushima and, ironically in the case of Ukraine, Chernobyl. Minimally-informed media personalities breathlessly proclaim gloom and […]