New America has announced the launch of the Future Security Scenarios Lab (FSSL).
The company states that FSSL is an initiative designed to help policymakers, practitioners and scholars confront the world’s most complex national security challenges with the tools of foresight, not hindsight.
The lab will combine cutting-edge methods such as scenario planning, probabilistic forecasting and strategic simulations to surface early-warning signals and generate actionable insights.
Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America commented: “We cannot solve tomorrow’s problems with yesterday’s playbook.
“The Future Security Scenarios Lab will bring together a number of different futures techniques to help decision-makers imagine and plan for futures that break sharply with the past,” Slaughter added.
At a time when traditional approaches to security are falling short, the company says that Future Security Scenarios Lab will confront these challenges directly.
Transformative technologies like artificial intelligence are colliding with rising authoritarianism, great power competition and climate crises, making securing our world more difficult than ever, the company adds.
Peter Bergen, Vice President of Global Studies and Fellows, New America said: “Today’s threats are diffuse, fast-moving and often asymmetric.
“The Future Security Scenarios Lab will give policymakers the foresight needed to navigate this uncertainty before it becomes a crisis.”
Amy J Nelson, FSSL Director and Senior Fellow, Future Security Program at New America highlighted: “The lab is not about prediction, it’s about preparation.
“By confronting uncertainties ahead, we can design smarter policies, stress test assumptions and avoid the catastrophic costs of strategic surprise,” she concluded.
According to the company, the Future Security Scenarios Lab will launch pilot projects on nuclear and AI futures, convene and host workshops and immersive exercises and publish insights that challenge conventional wisdom to advance better futures.
The lab will also serve as a hub for future-oriented research across the organization, aligning foresight practices with initiatives in:
Beyond New America, the lab will foster collaboration among a growing community of security thinkers advancing innovative approaches to today’s challenges and champion innovative approaches fit for the complexity of this century.