Margaret M. Polski, Ph.D.
Professor Wargaming Department
Biography
Dr. Polski provides national security analysis and research for senior military leaders and their staff. She has over thirty years of experience helping organizations innovate to address threats, emerging opportunities, and operating performance. Dr. Polski's research is focused on strategic behavior in complex adaptive systems, and includes work in experimental design, game theory, cognitive neuroscience, and computational social science. Her current research interests are related to understanding the behavior of heterogeneous systems.
Contact Information
Areas of Expertise
- Economics
- International Relations
- National Security
- Operational Warfare
- Policy
- Wargaming
Professional Highlights
Professor U.S. Naval War College War Gaming Department
Associate Professor U.S. Naval War College War Gaming Department
National Academies
Technical Assistance
Afghanistan
Syria
Africa
Education
Ph.D., Indiana University, Political Science
M.P.A., Harvard University, Business Economics and Policy
B.E.S., University of Minnesota, Social Science and Management
Research Contributions and Publications
Classified War Game Research Reports
2017-Present
War Gaming Department, U.S. Naval War College, Newport RI.
North American Treaty Organization (NATO) Analytical War Gaming – Innovative Approaches to Data Capture, Analysis, and Exploitation
2022
Collins, Sue and Margaret M. Polski (Eds.) NATO/STO Technical Report AC/323(SAS-139)TP/1065. Paris: FR. NATO/STO. March.
Doing Analysis
2019
With Jon Scott Logel in Graham Longley-Brown, John Curry Ed. 2019. Successful Professional War Games: A Practitioner’s Guide. History of War Gaming Project, London, UK.
Back to Basics—Research Design for the Operational Level of War
2019
Naval War College Review, Summer 2019, Vol. 72, No.3.
A Warfighter’s Guide to Analysis
2018
War Gaming Department Working Paper WGD_20181, U.S. Naval War College, Newport RI.
Extending the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework to Policy Analysis and Design
2018
In Filippo Sabetti and Dario Castiglio Eds. Institutional Diversity in Self-Governing Societies: The Bloomington School and Beyond. Landam, MD: Lexington Books.
An Institutional Framework for Policy Analysis and Design
2017 [1999]
With Elinor Ostrom in Daniel Cole and Michael McGinnis Eds. Elinor Ostrom and the Bloomington School of Political Economy: Volume 3, Frameworks and Methods of Institutional Analysis. Lanham MD: Lexington Books.
Strategy 2.0: The Next Generation
2016
Joint Force Quarterly: 81, 2nd Quarter
Are War Games Quasi-Experiments?
2015
Technical briefing paper for a panel discussion at the 83rd Symposium of the Military Operations Research Society.
Rethinking the Role of Universities in Innovation
October 2014
Background Paper for the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy, National Research Council, National Academy.
Improving the Accuracy of U.S. Government Debt Estimates
March 2011
Mercatus Center Working Paper No. 11-13, George Mason University.
Truth and Consequences: A Guide to Understanding U.S. Government Debt and Deficits
December 2010
Mercatus Center Working Paper No. 10-76, George Mason University.
Systemic Risk and the U.S. Financial System
2009
Mercatus On Policy Series No. 53, Mercatus Center, George Mason University
Bank Risk Management
April 2009
Mercatus On Policy Series No 43, Mercatus Center, George Mason University.
"Wired for Survival: The Rational (And Irrational) Choices We Make, From the Gas Pump to Terrorism"
2008
FT Press (Wharton School Publishing).
The Economic Organization of Biomedical Research in the United States
2006
International Social Science Journal. 188:283-297.
The Institutional Economics of Biodiversity, Biological Materials, and Bioprospecting
2005
Journal of Ecological Economics. 53:543-557.
"The Invisible Hands of U.S. Commercial Banking Reform: Private Action and Public Guarantees"
2003
Elsevier: The Netherlands: Kluwer.
Growth and Change in the New Economy: Opportunities and Challenges
2002
In Audretsch, D. and Welfens, Pjj. Eds., The New Economy and Economic Growth in Europe and the U.S, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
The New Economy in Germany and the United States: Policy Challenges and Solutions
2002
American Institute for Contemporary German Studies Economic Studies Working Paper 27
The AICGS New Economy Study Group Team
Washington, D.C.: AICGS
Measuring Transaction Costs and Institutional Change in the U.S. Commercial Banking Industry
January 2001
Institute for Development Strategies Discussion Paper ISSN 01-3.
Sustaining Innovation and Growth in Research-Intensive Industries: Early Stage Finance Issues & Approaches
August 2000
Discussion paper prepared for the Board on Science, Engineering, Technology, and Economic Policy, Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Community Driven Development
2000
In the Poverty Reduction Sourcebook, Volume I, Chapter 9. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
Institutional Evolution and Change: Interstate Banking Reform in the United States
2000
Doctoral Dissertation
UMI Company: Ann Arbor, MI.
Local Actions, Better Lives: Decentralizing Rural Infrastructure Services
1998
The Economic Development Institute of the World Bank. Washington, D.C.
Seizing the Opportunity, Meeting the Challenge: Institutional Reform for Sustainable Rural Infrastructure
1998
The Economic Development Institute of the World Bank. Washington, D.C.
Other Honors
Military Cyber Professionals Association Order of Thor
2017
External Memberships and Associations
Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation Board of Advisors
City of Newport Planning Board Member
Military Operations Research Society
National Science Foundation Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention Phase I Challenge Grant Team
U.S. Naval Institute
Material and external links contained herein are made available for the purpose of peer review and discussion and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Naval War College, Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense.