43 55 7 10 60 55 7 12 HEDGEMONY A GAME of STRATEGIC CHOICES PLAYER GUIDE C O R P O R A T I O N For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/TL301 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2020 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Game design, development, and documentation by Michael E. Linick, John Yurchak, Michael Spirtas, Stephen Dalzell, Yuna Huh Wong, and Yvonne K. Crane Cover and game box design by Rick Penn-Kraus Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. 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Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface This guide and the accompanying rulebook, Hedgemony: A Game of tine for the defense community to commandeer commonly used words Strategic Choices—Rulebook, describe Hedgemony,1 a pedagogical war- and overload them with defense-specific meanings (often, unfortunate- game designed for U.S. defense strategy and policy professionals, as ly, with multiple conflicting meanings), we have tried to differentiate well as graduate school faculty and students in related fields of study. between common and domain-specific usage by indicating all formal This guide is written for prospective players who might not want to be terms in bold type when first used in each book and by providing defi- bothered with game-specific rules or details (Hedgemony is designed to nitions for those terms in the glossary booklet. The glossary booklet al- be expertly facilitated by people who have significant topical expertise so includes an extensive list of abbreviations used throughout the books and who have read and understand the contents of the rulebook). This and the game pieces. guide is also intended for decisionmakers who may be considering using The initial research and development of Hedgemony was sponsored by Hedgemony in a professional or academic environment. Therefore, this the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and conduct- guide provides a top-level overview of what it takes to plan, prepare, and ed within the International Security and Defense Policy Center of the game session execute a , as well as notes on how the game was designed, RAND National Security Research Division (NSRD), which operates including notable feature and trade-off choices that were made by the the National Defense Research Institute (NDRI), a federally funded re- design team and that should be considered by anyone who is thinking search and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary about using Hedgemony. of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Na- The rulebook, on the other hand, provides detailed, technical descrip- vy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense intelligence tions of the game, including the rules of play, how to plan and set up a enterprise. For more information on the RAND International Security game session, and how to design, modify, and produce a game session and Defense Policy Center, see www.rand.org/nsrd/isdp or contact the scenario. The primary audience is game facilitators—people who will director (contact information is provided on the webpage). plan and execute a game session for the players. Funding to produce the game in a format useful for a broader policy- In keeping with the pedagogical purpose of the game, an extensive glos- making audience was provided by gifts from RAND supporters and in- sary of terms (Hedgemony: A Game of Strategic Choices—Glossary and come from operations. Abbreviations) is included in its own separate booklet. Because it is rou- 1 The name Hedgemony arose from the nature of a common challenge facing those who craft U.S. defense strategy. For the past 30 years, U.S. defense policymakers have been focused on an environment that has presented the United States with options for employment of defense forces in many different roles (such as humanitarian assistance, counterinsurgency, and major power conflict) and in many different locations (such as Afghanistan, Estonia, Haiti, Iraq, Korea, and Somalia). U.S. defense policymakers must prepare for a variety of near-term contingencies while also building U.S. armed forces for the future. The tension inherent in this set of challenges led us to think in terms of “hedging strategies”—the kinds of strategies investment professionals use to deal with uncertainty in the investment markets. This challenge also typically entails efforts to either maintain parity or achieve overmatch with one’s adversaries. Hence, we have the term Hedgemony. Player Guide iii Contents Preface ..........................................................................................................................................................iii Figures .......................................................................................................................................................... vi 1. Introduction and Overview ................................................................................................................... 1 Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Planning a Game Session ....................................................................................................................... 3 Learning Objectives and Data Collection ...........................................................................................................3 The Scenario ............................................................................................................................................................3 U.S. Player ................................................................................................................................................................3 Non-U.S. Players .....................................................................................................................................................4 Facilitators ...............................................................................................................................................................4 Participant Training ...............................................................................................................................................4 3. Player Guide ............................................................................................................................................. 5 Player Span of Control ...........................................................................................................................................5 The lobalG Security Environment ........................................................................................................................5 Military Forces ........................................................................................................................................................5 Resources .................................................................................................................................................................6 Time .........................................................................................................................................................................7 Strategic Objectives and Victory Conditions ......................................................................................................7 Investments, Actions, Events, and Outcomes .....................................................................................................8 Defining the Trade Space .....................................................................................................................................10 Resources ..........................................................................................................................................................10 Force Structure (Forces, Capacity) ................................................................................................................10 Force Capability ...............................................................................................................................................10 Asymmetrical Capabilities ..............................................................................................................................10 National Science and Technology (S&T) and Research and Development (R&D) ................................11 Force Readiness (U.S. Player Only) ...............................................................................................................11