Competition is Inevitable, War is Not: Using Games to Rethink the U.S.-Chinese Relationship

Excerpt

Elected leaders need tabletop exercises, crisis simulations, and wargames to help them visualize and describe modern strategy. From questions about technology and intellectual property to food security and economic concerns, the new era of great-power competition transcends narrow bureaucratic definitions of national security that defined much of the Cold War. U.S. military might alone will not deter the Chinese Communist Party. Rather, creative combinations of military and non-military activities that cut across traditional congressional committee authorities will likely prove more effective at deterring China and capable of translating American power into enduring competitive advantage. 

This essay outlines our opening gambit to build a series of games designed to better understand 21^st-century competition along these lines. It builds on previous calls to bring wargaming to Congress and to usher in a new era of strategic analysis. First, we review the pilot tabletop exercise we ran with the Republican Issue Conference and plan to run with House Democrats to ensure we keep foreign policy bipartisan. Second, we discuss our plan to build on this initiative to engage multiple congressional committees over the next two years. These analytical exercises do not replace the good work being done in the executive branch. Rather, we see them as a complementary way of bridging branches of government as well as engaging the American public in a larger debate about the future. 

Benjamin Jensen, Ph.D., is a professor of strategic studies at the School of Advanced Warfighting in the Marine Corps University and a senior fellow for future war, gaming, and strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is a U.S. Army veteran.

Mark Montgomery is the senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation in the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. He previously served as the executive director for the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission and retired as a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy. Follow him on Twitter and @MarkCMontgomery. FDD is a Washington, DC-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.