Behavioral Modeling and Simulation : From Individuals to Societies

Reviews individual, organizational, and societal (IOS) modeling research programs. This book evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the programs and their methodologies. It determines which have the greatest potential for military use. It guides the design of a research program to foster the development of IOS models useful to the military.

Today''s military missions have shifted away from fighting nation states using conventional weapons toward combating insurgents and terrorist networks in a battlespace in which the attitudes and behaviors of civilian noncombatants may be the primary effects of military actions. To support these new missions, the military services are increasingly interested in using models of the behavior of humans, as individuals and in groups of various kinds and sizes. Behavioral Modeling and Simulation reviews relevant individual, organizational, and societal (IOS) modeling research programs, evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the programs and their methodologies, determines which have the greatest potential for military use, and provides guidance for the design of a research program to effectively foster the development of IOS models useful to the military. This book will be of interest to model developers, operational military users of the models and their managers, and government personnel making funding decisions regarding model development.