How to Write and Fight World War III​

A Discussion With:
August Cole
Co-Author
Ghost Fleet
Director,
Art of Future Warfare Project
Atlantic Council

Kathleen McInnis
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brent Scowcroft Center
on International Security

Atlantic Council
Founder, "Art of War" Column
War on the Rocks

Mark Seip
US Navy Senior Fellow, Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security
Atlantic Council

Peter W. Singer
Co-Author
Ghost Fleet
Strategist and Senior Fellow
New America Foundation

Moderated By:
Kevin Corke
White House Correspondent
Fox News Channel

July 7, 2015
9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Atlantic Council
1030 15th Street NW
12th Floor
West Tower Elevator
Washington, DC

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US and Chinese warships battle at sea, firing everything from cannons to cruise missiles to lasers. Stealthy Russian and American fighter jets dogfight in the air, with robotic drones flying as their wingmen. Hackers in Shanghai and Silicon Valley duel on digital battlegrounds. And fights raging in outer space may decide who wins below on Earth. Are theses scenes from a novel or could they actually take place in the real world the day after tomorrow? Or is the answer both?

This very moment, when the national security community is trying to make sense what the future of warfare might look like, is also the perfect time for the creative community to weigh in: What would a major state conflict really look like in the twenty-first century? How would warfare be conducted in the new domains of low-earth orbit and cyber space? What will the American home front be like? What new technologies, old rules, and lessons will matter most?

To address such important questions, this event will feature August Cole, Director of the Art of Future Warfare project at the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, and Peter W. Singer, Strategist for the New America Foundation, who will discuss their new book, Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War. They will be joined by CDR Mark Seip, the Chief of Naval Operations for the Naval Warfare Group and Future Concepts office at the US Department of Defense. The discussion will be moderated by Kevin Corke, White House Correspondent for Fox News Channel.

The event also will feature “Posters of World War III,” a selection of works by visual artists and designers that imagine the propaganda of a future great power war, which culminates a collaborative initiative among Cole and Singer, the Art of Future Warfare project, and VICE Motherboard.

The Art of Future Warfare project seeks 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.

Cole and Singer will be available after the event to sign books.