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Coventry University researcher using science fiction to help Ministry of Defence prepare for the next century
Dr Allen Stroud edited the book Creative Futures
University news / Research news
Thursday 26 February 2026
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A Coventry University researcher has created a collection of science fiction stories designed to spark fresh thinking about the future of defence and security over the next 100 years.
Dr Allen Stroud, from the Research Centre for Peace and Security which focuses on understanding and addressing future security challenges, worked with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) on a project called Creative Futures to bring together leading sci-fi authors and defence experts to imagine future scenarios stretching as far as 2122.
Dstl is the Ministry of Defence’s in-government science and technology organisation and the stories chosen for Creative Futures explore how emerging technologies, societal shifts and global challenges might shape the world beyond this century.
Themes include wars fought by autonomous machines, quantum technology that can predict the future, and artificial intelligence (AI) making life and death decisions.
Dr Stroud penned half a dozen of the stories himself, including the tale of AI being tasked with solving a conflict between two countries and its solution is to lie to both sides, scheme, double-cross and potentially murder people on both sides so all those involved are then too scared to continue the conflict.
Working with Dstl was an incredible opportunity to merge creativity with real-world expertise - science fiction isn’t just entertainment, it’s a strategic tool. These stories help us explore the risks and opportunities of emerging technologies beyond today’s horizon that we might otherwise miss.
The premise is to look at incidents that may happen in the next 50 years and build resilience to deal with them. For example, what could terrorism look like and how would we respond? Or imagine there is a climate incident in a coastal city in 45 years and we write a story that is based on the experiences of people – fictional people – who are living there and what it is like to be part of that situation. The story tells you what they could experience.
Even if that was to then happen somewhere else, what we are trying to do is show how people could react in that situation and write in an agile way that is not locked into a specific set of circumstances. Some science fiction is very specific but these stories are not.
Dr Allen Stroud, from the Research Centre for Peace and Security
Preparing for the future means thinking beyond the next upgrade or system. Science fiction challenges us to consider the human, societal and geopolitical dimensions of technology.
These stories aim to engage, evoke and provoke - pushing us to imagine new ways of working and rethink what the future could be. By carrying that creative mindset into the present, we can apply their lessons to real‑world challenges and unlock better ways of working today.
Sarah Herbert, Dstl Futures Programme Manager
Find out more about Coventry University’s Research Centre for Peace and Security.
