The Game Changer: Game Theory and Low Intensity Maritime Operations

Terrorism, piracy and Low Intensity Maritime Operations are certainly not games, and neither are the responses to thwart them! The two sides are nonetheless locked in an endless mind game with each trying to out-think the other. Game Theory is a branch of applied mathematics that has been used extensively in fields ranging from economics and political science to psychology and biology. The game involves two or more players making decisions so as to maximise their returns. In attempting to do so, they must anticipate the response of their adversaries, sometimes even in the absence of precise information. It is essentially about outguessing the adversary, by putting yourself in the opponents position. Since a logical adversary would presumably do the same - the interplay between the players and the choices they must make often mirror real-life situations. The book aims to introduce the concept of Game Theory to the uninitiated reader, with the focus on its application to combating terrorism, piracy and for Low Intensity Maritime Operations. Whilst the subject itself involves a fair amount of mathematics, the attempt here has been to emphasise the underlying logic and strategies rather than the full mathematical details.