Accidents, weapons: radiation is real, but effects dramatized or fictionalized? Fact v fiction, potential. Capt. Mark McDonagh, USN/ret., physicist, 12 years' Naval War College experience, NSDM staff
Description:
Nuclear reactor and weapons accidents, radiological assassination tools and terrorists' weapons of mass destruction, fallout from nuclear tests and even nuclear combat, hazards of medical waste. Radiation is real, but how much of the threat is dramatized or fictionalized by authors and screenplay writers, or demagogued by activists with agendas? Lecture discusses the history and the potential, and attempts to separate the facts, engineering and science from the science fiction and demagoguery. Presented by Capt. Mark McDonagh, USN/ret., a physicist with 12 years' experience at the Naval War College, currently on the National Security Decision Making Game staff.
Russians overrun Europe’s largest nuclear reactor site. Shells fall in sites' perimeters. Media sensationalize doom. The real risk, what's been done. Capt. Mark McDonagh, USN/ret., on NSDM staff.
Description:
With combat raging across Ukrainian nuclear reactor sites and sites changing hands between Ukraine and Russia, with shells, rockets and missiles landing inside the sites' perimeters, concerns of nuclear accidents spring to mind with memories of Three Mile Island, Fukushima and, ironically in the case of Ukraine, Chernobyl. Minimally-informed media personalities breathlessly proclaim gloom and doom. What are the facts, what is fiction, drama and demagoguery? Lecture examines the accident potential, discusses the recent war history, steps taken to reduce the threats, and disinformation campaigns. Presented by Capt. Mark McDonagh, USN/ret., a physicist and former nuclear submarine officer with 12 years' experience at the Naval War College, on the National Security Decision Making Game staff.
Teaching the History of the American Revolution Through Role Play
Summary:
Describes Revolution Crisis RPG, in which students experience events that turned colonists from mostly-loyal British subjects to revolt, and exercises team building, communication, negotiation skills.
Description:
National Security Decision Making Game, Inc. designers discuss the American Revolution Crisis Game. The team has conducted seminar gaming since 1990, using professional techniques. As the US observes the 250th anniversary of key events, they felt it was a good time to reflect on personalities, agendas, events & energies that drove decisions. Developed in 2022 to create an interactive learning tool for the SHS and undergrad History-101 level, the game presents history in an experiential format that may impart insight a student won't get from books & lectures. On younger levels it also exercises team building, communication & negotiation skills. Historical figures included, amalgamated, excluded; events injected, counter-factual events to keep outcomes uncertain. How background material is provided, player aids used, character agendas applied. Game itself will be run Saturday at 6 pm.
Type XXI U-boat, Guppy, Whisky & Early Cold War Underwater
Summary:
With WW II over, US wanted hunter-killer subs, Soviets wanted subs that could cut Atlantic supply lines. Both adapted German Type XXI U-boat technology. Capt. Mark McDonagh, USN/ret., on NSDM staff.
Description:
Start of Cold War: US & Soviet navies need to stake claims in their respective national security constructs. Soviets can't compete with West's navies symmetrically, made same decision the Germans had in both world wars: make a submarine force able to cut Atlantic supply lines. US submarine service recognized where Soviets were heading, evolved existing subs to an anti-submarine role. Both used the most technologically sophisticated sub in the world as a design template, the German Type XXI U-boat. Type XXI design requirements sprung from Battle for the North Atlantic, features attractive to Superpowers. Soviet Whisky class & its combat roll. US "GUPPY" adaptation of WW II Fleet boats to hunter-killers. Injections of Type XXI technology. Capt. Mark McDonagh, USN/ret., former submarine officer with 12 years' Naval War College experience, on the National Security Decision Making Game staff.
Panel discussing 1945 final battles of WW II: Rhine crossing, drive on Berlin, strategic bombing-Dresden through Nagasaki, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, codebreaking. Presented by the NSDM staff.
Description:
Panel and seminar discussing 1945 final battles and events of World War II, including crossing the Rhine, the drive on Berlin, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, area bombing including Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Manhattan project, codebreaking achievements, the Potsdam conference, the Soviet war in the Far East. Members of the National Security Decision Making, Inc staff will present highlights and will lead a broad-based discussion of the events of this final year of the war.
NSDM: Chernobyl, Fact vs Fiction, Drama, Demagoguery.
Summary:
The story is generally told to stress drama or harangue over reactors, loose with facts. This gives the physics & engineering. Capt. Mark McDonagh, physicist, retired nuclear sub officer, NSDM staff.
Description:
What really happened at Chernobyl? What we see in miniseries and documentaries largely steers clear of technical details, or worse, was written by someone overly fond of exploring the drama but clueless on the physics, nuclear engineering and radiological details. Then there are activists, often clueless as well, who exaggerate the description of the damage and the potential consequences to their own ends. This lecture attempts to separate science and engineering and actual facts from drama and activist demagoguery. It describes the Chernobyl reactor design, including its advantages and its vulnerabilities in light of other nuclear reactor mishaps. It then goes on to describe what went wrong and why. Presented by Capt. Mark McDonagh, USN/ret., a career nuclear submarine officer with BS and MS degrees in physics with 12 years’ experience at the Naval War College, now on the NSDMG staff.
Peek behind the curtain at how governments, corporations and politicians use data about individuals like you for power, profit and to influence our behavior. Gregory Maus, MBA, MS, on NSDM staff.
Description:
The Information Age has become the Age of Omniscience: everything from your financial records, to your psychological profile, to your (smartphone's) location at any given time, and so much more is constantly up for sale to corporations, governments, and political parties so that they can better influence your behavior. The quiet wars to control, sell, and steal this data may be the most important conflicts of the 21st century. Presented by Gregory Maus, MBA, MS, on the National Security Decision Making Game staff.
Learn about some current and future robotic spacecraft exploring the solar system, and how you can interact with their photos and data. By Elizabeth Koprucki of the NSDM staff.
Description:
From a close approach to the sun to venturing into interstellar space, and many places in between, robotic spacecraft are expanding humanity's knowledge of the solar system. Learn about some current robotic missions, including the Parker Solar Probe, Curiosity Rover, and Juno, and how you can interact with their photos and data. Lecture will also talk about some exciting upcoming missions. Elizabeth Koprucki with the National Security Decision Making Game staff has volunteered as a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador since 2014, presenting robotic spaceflight to her communities. She is active in the Chicago maker community and runs the Fab Lab at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago.
NSDM: FLQ Crisis 50 years ago: Canada Declares Martial Law!
Summary:
What happened 50 years ago that pushed Canada to declare martial law? How did a Marxist independence terrorist group provoke a response that saw troops in the streets? By Mike Tucker, NSDM staff.
Description:
After a 7-year campaign of bombings, robberies and murder, the Marxist-Leninist pro-independence terrorist organization Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) kidnapped both the British Trade Commissioner and the Deputy Premier of the Province of Quebec. These crimes prompted both the Mayor of Montreal and Premier of Quebec to ask the Federal Government to give them additional powers and support to resolve this state of “apprehended insurrection.” The Canadian government invoked the War Measures Act, which allowed the police to ignore various civil rights protections and detain people for extended periods of time without due process. The military was activated to protect Federal installations in Ottawa and Montreal. This lecture will discuss the events that lead to this crisis and the resolution of it. Presented by Mike Tucker of the National Security Decision Making Game staff.
The National Security Decision Making Game staff reviews recent changes and things to watch next year, including hotspots: China, Europe, Iran, Israel, Russia, North Korea. What’s CNN missing?
Description:
Overview, analysis and insights on current and near-future world affairs. This panel discussion and seminar, the signature event of the National Security Decision Making (NSDM) Game staff, explores current, and potential future, problem areas around the world. Want to know what to expect in the next year? What might happen and what are its implications? What are drivers, what indicators to watch for, and how might events be affected by the U.S. and the West? What potential catastrophes is CNN missing?