Atlantic Council announces new Art of Future Warfare project

The Atlantic Council today announced the launch of the Art of Future Warfare (AFW) project, housed in the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, that aims to create a world in which artists—writers, illustrators, directors, videographers, and others—and creativity enjoy a valued place in the defense establishment’s planning and preparation for the future of warfare and conflict.

Funded by the Lund fellowship in the Emerging Defense Challenges practice, AFW will cultivate a community of interest in ideas arising from the intersection of creativity and how global trends, disruptive technologies, and novel warfighting concepts may animate tomorrow’s conflicts. The project will include War on the Rocks as a media partner and publish content on WOTR’s “Art of War” blog.

The project will curate artistic renderings of future warfare through crowd-sourced “war-art challenges,” which will be reviewed by a panel of Atlantic Council experts and guest judges. The best works will be published in a collection that will aid the national security community in thinking about and planning for emerging threats.

The theme of AFW’s first challenge is “The Next Great War.” Contestants will submit journalistic written accounts akin to a front-page story describing the outbreak of a future great-power conflict. Entries should be between 1,500 and 2,500 words long and must be submitted on the AFW website by December 31, 2014.

“Warfare and technology are changing faster than the US national security community can adapt,” said Art of Future Warfare Project Director August Cole. “It is more important now than ever before to seek out new voices and ideas that will challenge assumptions and conventional ways of tackling some of today’s toughest defense problems.”

“We at the Scowcroft Center are pleased to launch such an innovative and timely initiative,” said VP and Center Director Barry Pavel. “AFW’s approach to addressing the ever-evolving security landscape will be an important contribution not only to the Atlantic Council, but to the current discourse on how we plan and prepare for future conflicts.”

Please visit the project website for more information on the Art of Future Warfare or to participate in the first war-art challenge.

Related Experts: August Cole and Barry Pavel