Research Summaries

Back South Asia Crisis Simulation Exercise 2.0

Fiscal Year 2014
Division School of International Graduate Studies
Department National Security Affairs
Investigator(s) Khan, Feroz H.
Sponsor Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DoD)
Summary South Asia Crisis Simulation Exercise 2.0 will engage senior military and diplomatic officials and top security experts from India and Pakistan in a table-top exercise (TTX). The TTX will simulate Indian and Pakistani decision-making dynamics in the aftermath of a hypothetical crisis triggering event, set in the year 2020. Participants will be divided into teams based on country of origin, and a Control Group will moderate and adjudicate the exercise.
This exercise builds upon the findings of the first iteration of the event, held 19-22 March 2013 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Lessons learned and feedback obtained from the first iteration will guide the setting of the follow-on. Country teams will now include former diplomatic officials from India and Pakistan. The new exercise will explore inter-service dynamics where an array of nuclear capabilities - including battlefield nuclear weapons, land, air, and sea cruise and ballistic missiles, and ballistic missile defenses - are deployed. The new exercise will also explore the implications of emerging military doctrines and deterrence strategies in South Asia. Given the complexity of the threat environment in South Asia, with a rising China and declining U.S. presence in Afghanistan, the exercise will present secondary fronts and vignettes to nuance our understanding of regional crisis dynamics.
A detailed report analyzing the first iteration in Colombo, as well as a series of after-action briefings, have drawn considerable interest from high levels of the USG - including OSD, DOS, DOE, and NSC - each of whom have expressed specific interest in convening this follow-on event.
Keywords
Publications Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal
Data Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal