Nearly 150 guests gathered Thursday, September 19, at George Mason University’s Mason Square Campus Van Metre Hall auditorium for the Virginia debut screening of War Game, a 90-minute documentary tackling vital national security challenges, namely, what would happen if a presidential candidate did not agree to a peaceful transfer of power and had the military might to challenge the election.
Hosted by the Schar School of Policy and Government’s Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security, the unscripted drama swept the audience into a carefully constructed simulation that positions the United States on the brink of a civil war on January 6, 2025.
Reflecting on the events of the attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021, and fearing potential violence in the upcoming presidential election, the film confronts real-life senior government officials, military and intelligence veterans, and battle-hardened political consultants with a convincing, if simulated, crisis of a nationwide insurrection.
To get the clock ticking, the game organizers—as well as directors Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber—give “President Hotham” (former governor Steve Bullock [D]) just six hours with his advisors in the White House Situation Room to save American democracy in the face of a violent uprising.
With coordinated mass insurrections happening not just at the Capitol but at state capitals around the country, the political brain trust considers all options, but most hotly debates the presidential use of the Insurrection Act—called “the nuclear option”—to stanch the escalating coup.
The documentary features a list of well-known political names including, former senators Doug Jones (D-AL) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Army General (retired) Wesley Clark, and Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Alexander Vindman, whose whistleblowing testimony contributed to former president Donald Trump’s first impeachment in 2019.
Also at the president’s table is Hayden Center Senior Fellow David Priess, in the role of the director of national intelligence. Following the screening, Priess took the stage to share behind-the-scenes details and to take questions from the audience.
Priess intimated that the dramatized simulation results were analyzed by intelligence analysts at the Pentagon and other government agencies to learn how to prevent future national security threats caused by the extremist groups, should they arise.
The general public will be able to access the film starting September 27 on the digital platforms of Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, and Fandango at Home.
