ISM Wargaming Lab

ISM Wargaming Lab is an initiative launched in September 2024 to help build wargaming competences at ISM University of Management and Economics, and use for educational, research, and applied purposes. In an increasingly uncertain environment, there is a need to learn how to better deal with potential future scenarios. Wargaming can help meet this need. At the ISM Wargaming Lab we aim to:

• build student and faculty skills in designing and applying simulation games for learning and research
• design and develop microgames on the most pressing issues and make them available to everyone
• engage with external institutions and provide them with support for wargaming needs
• participate in international academic and professional wargaming networks, contributing to the evolution of the field

ISM Wargaming Lab is built on the experience from an ISM BSc course Simulation Development, where students explore and develop their own games on political and economic issues. The initiative is led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pijus Krūminas and run with the support of students in the Economics and Politics programme. For any inquiries, please contact wargaming@ism.lt

While there are many definitions, we propose following Perla’s (2022) view that wargaming is a method of modelling reality, where people make decisions in a provided synthetic environment, and where those decisions affect both the players and the environment, and players can react to it.

Originating from the military and defense sector, wargaming has spilled over to other areas from crisis management to pandemic response. It is especially relevant in areas where there is a lack of data other modelling techniques may be lacking. Taking the roles of real-world agents, players can then jointly develop possible future scenarios, identifying potential challenges. Wargaming is no crystal ball in that it does not predict the future. However, what it does is help us to understand the future and the ways in which we are not (yet) ready for it.

Dr. Pijus Krūminas, Director of the Financial Economics Programme and Associate Professor of the Economics and Politics Programme at ISM, introduced and started applying the wargaming method in education in Lithuania. He launched the ISM Wargaming Lab at ISM University to introduce wargaming to students, faculty, high school students, and anyone interested in strengthening their strategic and critical thinking skills. Dr. Krūminas regularly attends key events and conferences dedicated to wargaming, such as King’s NATO ACT Wargaming Week, Connections UK, and others. He is not only passionate about wargaming innovations but also actively shares how he applies the method in Lithuania.

Dr. Krūminas completed his PhD in Economics at ISM University of Management and Economics and his Master’s degree in Political Science at Vytautas Magnus University. His areas of interest lie primarily at the intersection of these social sciences, particularly from the perspective of wargaming as a modelling tool. Methodologically, Pijus is also interested in game theory and political economy. He has been involved in teaching in higher education for more than 12 years.

Recent and current projects run at the ISM Wargaming Lab are focused on analogue games and include:

• Demonstration of urban combat wargames with a scenario about defending modern-day Marijampolė. The scenario uses QUICK system developed by Brian Train.
• Development of a light abstracted educational game about interest groups and politics.
• Study of the educational value of wargaming on contemporary topics, using “Flashpoint: South China Sea”, a game by Harold Buchanan. The project is run with partners from Université Paris-Est Créteil, Brunel University of London, and University of Sarajevo.