Generally, works of fiction about the future are considered science fiction and allow us to look at current issues by placing our minds in a “what-if?” environment. In some cases, science fiction is also used as a wargaming tool to consider what might be.
Army University Press sponsors a Future Warfare Writing Program – program which is worth checking out.
They offer both Fictikn and Nonfiction versions of the program where would-be futurists take a look at trends in Warfighting.
Complex [environment] is defined as an environment that is not only unknown, but unknowable and constantly changing. The Army cannot predict who it will fight, where it will fight, and with what coalition it will fight.
TRADOC Pamphlet 525-3-1; The U.S. Army Operating Concept: Win in a Complex World 2020-2040, 31 October 2014
Although it’s a few years old, the U.S. Army TRADOC Mad Scientist Initiative is my favorite.
Everything is available at www.armyupress.army.mil/Special-Topics/Future-Warfare-Writing-Program.
