D · Diplomatic
Territorial consent
Who can authorise employment on the territory?
Centro Alti Studi Difesa · Defence Wargaming Laboratory
Fronte Artico 2026 – Arctic Power Projection
Ten actors, different interests and simultaneous choices. An Arctic simulation exploring how decisions interact and produce consequences.
Discover: Fronte Artico 2026 – Arctic Power Projection
- Explore the method
- The Fronte Artico video — Opens in a new tab
- Watch Pantaleo · The method — Opens in a new tab
- Watch Bernardi · Wargaming — Opens in a new tab
- Hear from the participants — Opens in a new tab
- Full recording · ministerodifesa — Opens in a new tab
- Conference context · CNR — Opens in a new tab
- Read on Osservatorio Artico — Opens in a new tab
- Photos from the experience
- Negotiation: Arctic Science Diplomacy
- Wargaming and multi-actor strategic simulations
- Ask for information
- Explore all projects
THE METHOD
From interests to consequences
Every choice must explain the interest it serves, the effect it seeks and the conditions that make it possible.
Take an actor’s perspective
A dossier defines the actor’s interests, capabilities and dependencies.
Decide privately
The team chooses what to employ, where and why. New decisions remain hidden.
Reveal and explain
Orders are revealed together. Each team explains the choice it has already committed to.
Determine outcomes
Controllers compare effects, requirements and reasoning, recording the outcomes.
10actors
4session turns
4DIME instruments
SELECTED EXCERPTS
Four instruments, many possible choices
DIME brings together the Diplomatic, Informational, Military and Economic instruments. These excerpts show how they contribute to strategic reasoning.
I · Informational
Satellite observation
What information does the decision need?
M · Military
Presence and capability
What access, timing and support make presence possible?
E · Economic
Infrastructure and services
Which logistics nodes does the action depend on?
The Fronte Artico video
The presentation and discussion of the wargame, in the video shared by Adriano Pantaleo.
29 OCTOBER 2026 · CASD
Original talks and sources
Source: the ministerodifesa YouTube channel, recording dated 29 October 2026. The three links in Discover open sections of the same conference in their original context.
The designer explains the method
Adriano Pantaleo presents the objectives, design choices and limits of the exploration.
Wargaming, education and analysis
Andrea Bernardi introduces the tool and the Laboratory’s work.
The participants’ perspective
Participants describe interpreting interests and priorities different from their own.
FRONTE ARTICO · CASD 2026
Photos from the experience
Scroll through the photos or use the arrows. Keyboard: left, right, Home and End.
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Explore further: model choices and interpretation
An explicit model
The configuration includes ten actors, 60 capabilities and four turns of seven simulated days. Dossiers and cards distinguish documented capabilities, hypothesised applications and game parameters. Greenland is independently playable to explore local interests; that modelling choice is distinct from its constitutional status.
Independent choices and constraints
In this configuration teams do not negotiate directly while choosing. Every employment must be justified and meet the scenario’s access, availability and dependency requirements.
How to interpret outcomes
Adjudication determines the outcomes of player decisions through reasoned controller judgement, a separate process from evaluating learning. Overlaps make frictions and interdependencies visible. Outcomes depend on the model, conditions and session decisions: they support strategic reflection without predicting events.
Project and contributions
A Centro Alti Studi Difesa (CASD) wargame, developed within the Defence Wargaming Laboratory. Wargame & research designer: Dr Adriano Pantaleo, PhD, CASD expert. Co-designer & material design: Col. (ret.) Francesco Marradi, Founder & CEO of 2Towers Studio s.r.l. Graphic design and creation of the geographical map of the Arctic: Mr Paolo Scannapieco for the Defence Wargaming Laboratory. Professional contributions provided without remuneration.
Configuration documented in the CASD 2026 project brief and session materials. Presented at the second National Defence Conference on the Arctic and Antarctic on 29 October 2026.
Related projects
Two separate projects in an Arctic setting: Fronte Artico 2026 explores independent, simultaneous decisions; Arctic Science Diplomacy centres on negotiation.
