Gaming Integrated Deterrence and Defence in Europe in an Era of Strategic Competition
The United States and its European allies have entered into a new era of strategic competition with Russia. Some features of this changed and changing security environment – multipolar geopolitical rivalry and more integrated and subtle approaches to conflict are already apparent. Nuclear weapons and missile defences are taking on new strategic roles. Other features, such as cyber and space weapons, will emerge with time. New factors will interact with traditional political and military approaches to produce a different strategic logic that will shape dynamics during peacetime, crisis and war.
Barzashka will discuss findings from a 3-year research project that developed a new wargaming approach to glean insights into the changing character of conflict among NATO and Russia. She will present evidence-based propositions on nuclear risk, deterrence and escalation from two strategic gaming events conducted at the UK Defence Academy.
Ivanka Barzashka is a founder and co-director of the King’s Wargaming Network. She is a MacArthur-funded Research Associate at the Centre for Science and Security Studies where she examines how disruptive technologies affect nuclear risks by combining qualitative analysis, quantitative modelling and strategic wargaming. She currently leads a project, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, on aerospace defence and nuclear risk focusing on the United States, NATO and Russia. As part of the project, Barzashka directed a series of strategic wargames at King’s College London and the UK Defence Academy during 2017 and 2018. She led the game design process that resulted in a new method of strategic wargaming. 

A sandwich lunch will be served at 12.40.
Date: 22 January 2019, 13:00 (Tuesday, 2nd week, Hilary 2019)
Venue: Manor Road Building, Manor Road OX1 3UQ
Venue Details: Seminar Room G, Department of Politics and International Relations
Speaker: Ivanka Barzashka (Kings College London)
Organising department: Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR)
Organiser: Dr Katerina Tkacova (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: info@ccw.ox.ac.uk
Host: Robert Johnson (Oxford)
Part of: Changing Character of War (CCW) Seminar Series
Booking required?: Not required
Cost: Free
Audience: Public
Editor: Elizabeth Robson