To Boldly Go: Leadership, Strategy, and Conflict in the 21st Century and Beyond. Jonathan Klug and Steven Leonard, Eds. Haverton, PA: Casemate, 2021.

The best science fiction is about exploring big ideas. It offers a creative vehicle for stimulating an imaginative journey into future scenarios, engaging in an earnest examination of potential technologies and their impact on society, and illuminating the human element in conflict. To Boldly Go: Leadership, Strategy, and Conflict in the 21st Century and Beyond, leans into this tradition by bringing diverse authors together to mine mostly well-known science fiction literature as a springboard for deeper discussions about strategy, leadership, and conflict. 

Jonathan Klug, a professor at the U.S. Army War College, and Steven Leonard, a faculty member at the University of Kansas and senior fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, build on a trend in which pop culture offers accessible lessons for national security leaders, strategists, and organizations. Recent examples include Winning Westeros: How Game of Thrones Explains Modern Military Conflicts (2019) and Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict (2018). What immediately separates To Boldly Go, however, is the expansive note it strikes. Drawing on a universe of science fiction franchises including The Expanse, Star Wars, Star Trek, Ender’s Game, Starship Troopers, Dune, Earthseed, The Murderbot Diaries, and many more, a wonderful array of authors, who are strategic thinkers in their own right, offer fresh perspectives in 35 chapters that span six major themes: leadership and command; military strategy and decision making; ethics, culture, and diversity; cooperation, competition, and conflict; the human relationship with technology; and toxic leaders.  

From the very first page, it is evident that Klug and Leonard set out to explore the nexus of strategy and science fiction with enthusiasm. A foreword by Major General Mick Ryan, whose book War Transformed examines 21st century conflict, sets the stage by noting how science fiction offers many insights for contemporary military organizations and for preparing future military leaders.[1] Indeed, many military leaders and national security strategists have recommended reading science fiction as an exercise in creative and intelligent thinking about the future. Among the proponents of reading science fiction is Admiral James Stavridis (USN, ret) who once recalled that among the most treasured books in his library was Frank Herbert’s Dune.

Indeed, military and national security professionals have increasingly sought to incorporate science fiction into strategic planning and thinking.[2] In 2013, the Atlantic Council commissioned a project to examine the future of conflict through the use of science fiction which resulted in a unique anthology of short stories. The U.S. Marine Corps has published a series of graphic novels with Marine authors that also creatively explores the character of future warfare. Similarly, the U.S. Army has experimented with its own graphic novel, Invisible Force: Information Warfare and the Future of Conflict.[3] It is also no surprise that Ender’s Game is often a feature of Marine Corps reading lists. The Chief of the Australian Army reading list, the Canadian Defense Force, and the French Defense Innovation agency have also sought to leverage science fiction to think creatively about strategy, warfighting, and technological disruption. Perhaps better known in military sci-fi are Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman’s 2034: A Novel of the Next World War and August Cole and Peter Singer’s Ghost Fleet, which attempt to extrapolate future scenarios based on emerging technologies such as autonomous drones, warships, and quantum computing.    

It is  easy to forget, however, that the potency of science fiction, and perhaps the sub-genre of military science fiction, as a way to imagine or forecast about the character of future conflict is built on an older tradition. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the world was shocked by the rapid and unanticipated German victories against the French. This perpetuated a sense of alarm throughout Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom, and fueled a conversation around future naval battles, the importance of railway systems for transporting soldiers, the revolutionary effect of the electric telegraph, new rifles, and new artillery.[4] Into that revolution in military affairs, The Battle of Dorking: Reminiscences of a Volunteer written by General Sir George Tomkyns Chesney, was published in May 1871. Chesney wrote about a fictional invasion, defeat, and humiliation of England by Germany, and fed a national desire to understand the shape of wars to come. As illuminated by I.F. Clarke in The Tale of the Next Great War, 1871-1914 (1995), an anthology of short stories written during those consequential decades in the run-up to World War I, Chesney’s The Battle of Dorking was the beginning of a flood of future war stories, with all of their forecasts and expectations preserved with an amber-like quality, that whirled right up through the summer of 1914.[5]

In 2023, science fiction remains a useful mechanism for strategists striving to discern trends and anticipate potential futures, convey new ideas, or generate fresh perspectives about the fundamental nature and the evolving character of war and leadership. In that sense, To Boldly Go makes excellent use of its alchemic approach of merging contemporary strategic thinkers with their favorite works of science fiction. While every reader will no doubt find value and favorites among them, a few stand out.   

Rebecca Jensen’s essay, “Calm Men Who Deal Death Wholesale,” is a poignant reflection on trauma.[6] Drawing on Lois McMaster Bujold’s Shards of Honor, Jensen explores the concept of moral injury, the idea that war inflicts more than physical and mental injury on its participants. It is a particularly impactful essay after over a decade of U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Similarly resonant is M. L. Cavanaugh’s “Blood Lessons,” which reflects on the importance of learning from losing battles against superior adversaries.[7] Cavanaugh deploys a Clausewitzian lens to view the range of battlefield-learning, as illustrated by the sci-fi movies and TV series, Battle: Los Angeles, Edge of Tomorrow, and Falling Skies, as a reminder to readers that winning wars is often about learning better and faster than an adversary, even while losing battles. It is a dynamic being witnessed in real-time as Russia continues to prosecute its war against Ukraine, and it is imperative that U.S. military leaders and national security professionals capture, understand, and engage with it in real-time.

Of course, one might expect a fair amount of attention and emphasis on the potential of emerging technologies such as AI, quantum computing, biotechnology, etc., to change the character of warfare, with resultant impacts on leadership and strategy. And while To Boldly Go certainly folds ample discussion of technology into its various chapters, it also provides a balanced take as exemplified by retired Army Special Forces Colonel Liam Collins who strikes a valuable note of caution against the glorification of technology and the overemphasis on hardware in war at the expense of the human element.[8] It is a theme readily observed in Star Wars, Dune, and Starship Troopers, and it is particularly pertinent in a moment when extraordinary excitement, fear, and uncertainty over the potential of artificial intelligence systems abound. Chapters by Theresa Hitchens and Erica Iverson also capture the promise and peril of technological futures by exploring the risks of human expansion into outer space from different, though complementary angles. Hitchens highlights the parallels and risks associated with commercially driven expansion into space, as depicted in The Expanse, while Iverson invokes Star Trek and The Forever War, among others, to comment on the character of space warfare.[9]

Finally, Kathleen J. McInnis’ “Sun Tzu, Ender, and the Old Man” is an important cautionary tale about the risks involved when filtering the world through rose-tinted socio-cultural and political lenses.[10] This form of strategic hubris is the enemy of strategic empathy, the ability to put oneself in the mind of one’s adversaries and allies, which McInnis notes is an area in which the United States appears to be lacking. Intriguingly for military strategists, McInnis points out that the United States tends to overlook really listening to allies and partners, and often de-prioritizes institutions of international diplomacy while empowering the military, even though political discussion is the heart of democracy.[11]

It is McInnis’ essay that might also serve as a bridge to critique this anthology.  While To Boldly Go draws on a healthy mix of science fiction work and worlds from genre behemoths like Star Wars and Star Trek, and the lesser well-known (but no less beloved) universes of Earthseed, the Murderbot Diaries, and Old Man’s War, among many others, the range of science fictions stories mined for their insights are predominantly of Western perspective and flavor. The essayists too, largely hail from either the United States, the United Kingdom, or Australia. For a project that leverages science fiction to think more creatively about military operations, organization, leadership, and strategy, it would have enriched the discussion to have drawn on science fiction works from a broader, perhaps global, perspective.         

Dr. Will Roper, a former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics once said, “We either become sci-fi or become history.”[12] Science fiction is one tool among many for strategists and national security professionals to explore potential futures, ignite creativity, and prompt important questions. It is also about becoming comfortable thinking about futures that will most certainly usher in dramatic technological and societal change. To better prepare for this coming challenge, To Boldly Go is both an engaging and entertaining exploration of strategy, leadership, and conflict through the medium of science fiction. It encourages its readers to discard staid conventions, ossified assumptions, and embrace a creative approach to strategic thinking. While not every essay will necessarily appeal to every reader, there are insights and lessons in equal measure for the novice and expert alike. To Boldly Go is an accessible, creative on-ramp, an effective bridge for deeper considerations of strategy and war in the 21st century.

Brett Swaney is an Assistant Research Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and do not reflect those of the National Defense University, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

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Header Image: Space Shuttle Orbits Above Earth, 2021 (NASA).

Notes:

[1] Jonathan Klug and Steven Leonard, eds., To Boldly Go: Leadership, Strategy, and Conflict in the 21st Century and Beyond (Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers, 2021), vii.

[2] Andrew Liptak, The U.S. Military Is Turning to Science Fiction to Shape the Future of War, Medium, July 29, 2020, available at https://onezero.medium.com/the-u-s-military-is-turning-to-science-fiction-to-shape-the-future-of-war-1b40d11eb6b4

[3] Hannah Graf, ‘Invisible Force’ Graphic Novel Shows the Possible Future of Cyber Warfare, ArmyTimes, July 14, 2020, available at https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2020/07/14/invisible-force-graphic-novel-shows-the-possible-future-of-cyber-warfare/

[4] I.F. Clarke, ed., The Tale of the Next Great War, 1871-1914: Fictions of Future Warfare and Battles Still-to-Come, (Syracuse University Press, 1995), 13

[5] I.F. Clarke, ed., The Tale of the Next Great War, 1871-1914: Fictions of Future Warfare and Battles Still-to-Come, (Syracuse University Press, 1995), 15.

[6] Rebecca Jensen, “Calm Men Who Deal Death Wholesale,” in To Boldly Go, eds. Jonathan Klug and Steven Leonard (Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers, 2021), 190.

[7] M.L. Cavanaugh, “Blood Lessons,” in To Boldly Go, eds. Jonathan Klug and Steven Leonard (Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers, 2021), 174.

[8] Liam Collins, “Man > Machine,” in To Boldly Go, ed. Jonathan Klug and Steven Leonard (Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers, 2021), 223.

[9] Theresa Hitchens, “The Flag Follows Trade,” in To Boldly Go, eds. Jonathan Klug and Steven Leonard (Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers, 2021), 128, and Erica Iverson, “The Final Frontier,” in To Boldly Go, Eds. Jonathan Klug and Steven Leonard (Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers, 2021), 166.

[10] Kathleen J. McInnis, “Sun Tzu, Ender, and the Old Man,” in To Boldly Go, eds. Jonathan Klug and Steven Leonard (Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers, 2021), 92.

[11] Kathleen J. McInnis, “Sun Tzu, Ender, and the Old Man,” in To Boldly Go, eds. Jonathan Klug and Steven Leonard (Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers, 2021), 97.

[12] Rebecca Kheel, “Air Force uses AI on Military flight for first time,” The Hill, 12/16/2020, available at https://thehill.com/policy/defense/530455-air-force-uses-ai-on-military-flight-for-first-time/