History of Wargames
The Assumption of Rationality
"...the assumption that players in a game are rational, a mischievous concept that has generated so much controversy and confusion in political science..."
The idea of rationality is highly suggested in formulating possible solutions to War Games. In the United States earlier attempts to utilize game theory in assisting in decisions. It is more common that the United States assumed rationality in earlier conflicts, such as the Cuban Missle Crisis, than it would be in the type of War Games being analyzed today. Many of the problems associated with these earlier predictions are in part due to the lack of interpretation of possible irrational game play associated with the enemy.
Metagames
The concept of metagames is that players make decisions based upon the decisions of other players assuming that the players are pre-ordered. The first player will make their move. The second player then has the choice of how to respond to the first players decision with different moves. This can continue to the n-th player. All of the previous moves before the last players decision will affect the final outcome. This is very different from the usual interpretation of normal form games such as "prisoner's dilema" or "chicken" where players are assumed to make decisions without knowledge of other player's actions.
Thomas Schelling
Thomas C. Schelling was born April 14th 1921. Thomas Schelling recieved his bachelors of economics from the University of California, Berkley in 1944 and recieved his PhD in economics from Harvard University in 1951. After working at Havord University as a professor for twenty years, he is now working at the Univerity of Maryland, college park. He is considered one of the leaders in American Economics in the understanding of cooperation and conflict by utilizing game theory. Schelling has recieved numerious awards but is most noted for his published books The Strategy of Conflict and Arms and Influence Schelling's books have had great influence in the startegy of the United States in dealing with military conflict of other nations.
