Wargaming and the Just War

Abstract

The concept of “The Just War” was popularised by St Thomas Aquinas in the 13th Century. Typically, discussions of Just War Theory consider the justification for going to war (jus ad bellum), of actions during a war (jus in bello) and of actions after war (jus post bellum). This presentation will first introduce the concept of Just War Theory and then look at how wargaming can contribute to discussions about jus ad bellum, jus in bello and jus post bellum. It will then consider whether, by better utilising wargames within the context of Just War Theory, wargaming might be help wars be more just, and to better deliver on the promise that “wargaming saves lives”. The presentation will also consider the just wargame that is needed to support any discussion about a just war.

Biography

David has been a wargamer and creator of wargames for around 50 years – although ironically not for the 10 years he spent in the British Army. David founded Daden Limited in 2004, working mainly in virtual reality and conversational AI. Whilst working with the UK MOD to automatically generate social media to support urban wargames David developed a wider interest in the issues of urban conflict and how they could best be wargamed. David started his part-time PhD on wargaming urban conflict at Bath Spa University under Dr John Curry in early 2022, and is currently running evaluations of 4 novel urban wargames that he has created, each looking at different aspects of the urban challenge. David is an ex-Royal Signals officer, a Chartered European Engineer, a TEDx presenter, and is also series co-editor for Taylor & Francis on their Metaverse Series of books.