David Banks is a Senior Lecturer in Wargaming at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, where he also serves as the Academic Director of the King’s Wargaming Network. His current wargaming research focuses on determining epistemological standards for evaluating wargames as a research method. This includes projects on the foundations of wargaming, linking theory to design, and the role of subject matter experts in professional wargames. In addition to his wargaming research, Dr Banks also studies diplomatic practice in international society, with a particular emphasis on symbolic and rhetorical diplomacy. His current book manuscript examines the motivation for, and political consequences of, state violations of diplomatic practice.

At King’s College, he teaches two MA wargaming modules: one on the principles and practice of Wargaming as a Method, and the other on Wargame Design. He has designed wargames on topics such as counterinsurgency in Nigeria, great power diplomatic crises, diplomatic bargaining, NATO sub-threshold conflict, NGO and civil society politics in repressive regimes, cybersecurity threats, and global strategic trends for clients including NATO, the Marine Corps University, Accenture, the Axel and Margaret Ax Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit, and others.

His wargaming research has been published in International Studies Review, Georgetown Press, and the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity. He is also published in International Studies Quarterly and Security Studies, a variety of academic edited volumes, and media outlets including The Washington Post, Time, The Independent, Chicago Tribune, Navy Times, U.S. News & World Report, and has appeared on BBC News. He received his PhD in International Relations and Methods from George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Research Interests

• The epistemology of wargaming
• Analytic wargaming
• Symbolic and Rhetorical diplomacy
• International crises
• Empire diplomacy
• Great power conferences

David’s research falls under three areas: wargaming as a research method, diplomatic practice, the history of international society.

David is the Academic Director of the King’s Wargaming Network, which he co-directs with Anna Nettleship, who acts as its Managing Director. The King’s Wargaming Network seeks to advance the theory and application of wargaming as a method of inquiry and as a method of learning and teaching.

Publications

• “The Methodological Machinery of Wargaming: A Path Toward Discovering Wargaming’s Epistemological Foundations.” International Studies Review. Vol 26, No. 1, 2024.
• “War Studies Online” (with David Easter and Anne-Lucie Norton). In Michael S. Goodman, Rachel Kerr, and Matthew Moran (eds.) An Introduction to War Studies. Edward Elgar Press, 2024.
• “Modeling International and Domestic Crisis: Island Interceptand Netwar” (with Benjamin Jensen). In Frank Smith, Nina Kollars, Ben Schechter (eds.) Cyber Wargaming: Research and Education for Security, Georgetown Press. 2023.
• “Symbolic Amplification and Suboptimal Weapons Procurement: Explaining Turkey’s S-400 Program” (with Lisel Hintz). Security Studies, 31:5, 826-856.
• “The Diplomatic Presentation of the State in International Crises: Diplomatic Collaboration during the US-Iran Hostage Crisis.” 2019. International Studies Quarterly, Vol, No. 63, No. 4. (Winner of ISA Diplomatic Studies Section’s Best Article Award, 2020)
• “Fields of Practice: Symbolic Binding and the Qing Defense of Sinocentric Diplomacy.” 2019. International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 63, No. 3.
• “Rejecting Westphalia: Maintaining the Sinocentric System, to the End.” In Daniel Green (ed). The Two Worlds of Nineteenth Century International Relations, Routledge, 2018.
• “The Rise of Dark Power: An Unforeseen Threat to International Order.” 2018. National Intelligence Research Short, May 2018.
• Cyber Operations in Conflict: Lessons from Analytic Wargaming. 2018. With Benjamin Jensen. The University California Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity.

Teaching

David currently convenes or co-convenes:

• Wargaming and Conflict Simulation: Principles and Practice
• Designing Wargames for Education and Analysis
• War in International Order
• Diplomacy and Foreign Policy