On the 13th of April 2022, the JASON Institute had the honour of hosting a Wargaming event in cooperation with the former Dutch representative to NATO, Niels Woudstra.
The main theme of the evening was Flow Security, in order to discuss the ever-increasing dependency on access to global flows of goods, energy, technology, people and knowledge. The wargaming aspect of the event, led to the evening being divided into three consecutive rounds, with in-between pitches in order to discuss the arguments by the different groups. The rounds themselves consisted of (1) a round for defining the concept of Flow Security and identifying various flows, (2) a round for a threat assessment to these flows, and (3) a round for wargaming, in which groups took up the roles of relevant actors.
By making use of such a format, the groups where able to discuss more than just the definition of the complex concept, and were able to really get a feeling of what aspects one should take into account when considering the threats and defence mechanisms of Flow Security. This was especially portrayed by the last round, in which the groups where able to take up the role of relevant factors, such as countries and non-state actors. After they, in the previous rounds, had defined useful flows, the infrastructures which supports these flows and the threats to these flows, the groups where able to dive into the perspective of these countries such as China and Russia. The result of this were multiple pitches on the best strategy forward for each relevant actor. Besides gaining insights on the difficulties which go alongside the protection of the aforementioned flows, the groups got live feedback from Mr. Woudstra, in order to be able to use the lessons learnt in their own professional careers. The evening was ended by providing an opportunity for the attendees to ask more personal questions to Mr. Woudstra.
We would like to thank both Mr. Woudstra for providing such an unique and diverse opportunity, and sharing his experience for our own use. Lastly, we would like to thank the participants for participating in this event!
Check out all the pictures of this event below!
