Background:

Divergent Options is a non-politically aligned non-revenue generating national security website that, in 1,000 words or less, provides unbiased, dispassionate, candid articles that assess a national security situation, present multiple options to address the situation, and articulate the risk and gain of each option.  Please note that while we assess a national security situation and may provide options, we never recommend a specific option.

Below you will see a Call for Papers.  If you are not interested in writing on this topic, we always welcome individual articles on virtually any national security situation an author is passionate about.  Please do not let our call for papers cause you to hesitate to send us your idea. We look forward to hearing from you!

Call for Papers:

The Georgetown University Wargaming Society and Divergent Options have teamed up to call for national security papers assessing situations or discussing options related to Wargaming.  Articles published with this Call for Papers will be published on both websites.

To inspire potential writers, we provide the below prompts:

– Assess the state of wargaming (considering either the wider defense community, a specific service, institution, or more).

– Assess the state of wargaming in other countries, either allies, partners, or competitors. Provide options for collaboration or identify insights.

– Assess how wargaming can be advanced or evolved – by incorporating specific technologies, techniques, reforms, or other opportunities. Provide options.

– How can the U.S. military better integrate educational wargaming into the training and education enterprise?  Provide options.

– How can the wargaming community raise the next generation of designers and / or wargamers?  Provide options.

– Assess the barriers and challenges to increasing diversity in the wargaming community.  Provide options on how to overcome or mitigate these barriers and challenges.

– Assess what makes a wargame effective (educational or analytical)?  If the metrics of effectiveness or impact of wargames needs to change, provide options.

– Assess how the linkage between wargaming and other forms of analysis can be improved or evolved.  Provide options.

– Assess the viability of wargaming establishing itself as an academic discipline.

– Assess the larger ecosystem and / or community of wargaming and identify options for reform or change.  Provide options.

Please limit your article to 1,000 words and write using our Options Paper or Assessment Paper templates which are designed for ease of use by both writers and readers alike.

Please send your article to submissions@divergentoptions.org by June 12, 2021.