When we hear the words "war games," many of us think of the 1983 blockbuster starring Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy. In the film "War Games", suspicions of computer technology collide with cold war fears to tell a parable in which the lesson is that no one wins in a game of war. But can war games actually help us avoid war?

James Lewis thinks so. He’s a former diplomat and director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington DC. His team has been working closely with a Chinese think tank, playing simulated war games with the hopes of avoiding real-life war.