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Royal Geographical Society Annual International Conference 2014, 26-29 August, London Ludic geopolitics: From the cradle to the war room (PolGRG-sponsored session) Convenors: Felix Ciută (University College London) and Ian Klinke (University of Oxford) Political geographers have recently turned their attention to the role of play in geopolitics. In doing so they have started to explore both the ideological and affective dimensions of ludic geopolitics, as well as its performance and enactment. Toys, games and simulations are increasingly seen to epitomise the much wider, and vehemently contested militarisation and geopoliticisation of all aspects of society, including childhood. In a similar way, ludicity seems to extend into realms of society that lie far beyond the nursery. The role of commercial as well as proprietary computer games in the recruitment and training of US soldiers and drone pilots is well documented, as is the role of “game theory” in Cold War nuclear strategy. War games are both the domain of command centres – Henry Kissinger reportedly enjoyed the 1959 board game “Diplomacy” as a favourite pastime – and a key ingredient of contemporary "militainment", the playground and the classroom included. In this sense, ludicity can serve as an analytical bridge between studies which focus on the ubiquity of geopolitical discourse – captured in references to popular, everyday, and banal geopolitics – and those which interrogate that which lies beyond textual representation. Paper submissions are invited which explore any aspects of ludic geopolitics from the perspectives of Political and Cultural Geography, International Relations and Games Studies. We are particularly interested in research that teases out the interfaces of different realms of geopolitical ludicity. We seek contributions that engage with a wide range of concerns including, but not limited to, the following themes: • Simulations and strategic gaming • Computer games and practices of statehood • War toys as embodied practices • The relationship between geopolitical knowledge and play • The emancipatory potential of playful geopolitics • New theoretical approaches to ludic geopolitics • Case studies of geopolitical enactment and performance Please submit a title and an abstract to [log in to unmask] by the 15th of February.