Could This Cause World War III?
It’s March of 2034. The setting is the South China Sea. A seemingly minor incident involving a U.S. Navy warship and a Chinese fishing vessel provokes military retaliation by the Chinese. At the same time, a U.S. fighter pilot is forced to the ground in Iran and taken prisoner. In both cases, sophisticated cyberattacks lead to the collapse of U.S. military communications systems. Disaster looms.
That’s the premise for 2034: A Novel of the Next World War, by Elliot Ackerman, A03, F03, and James Staviridis, F83, F84, former admiral, NATO commander, and Fletcher School dean. 2034 isn’t just a taut thriller, but also the story of people caught by circumstances: Sandy Chowdhury, a National Security Council staffer; Sarah Hunt, a naval commander; Lin Bao, a Chinese military official; and Qassem Farshad, an Iranian brigadier general and veteran, among others.