Futures studies and alternative military futures

Abstract

The purpose of Futures Studies is threefold: To discover or invent, examine and evaluate, and propose possible, probable and preferable futures. This triad of purposes is primarily addressed via futures research of which the essence is to generate alternative futures as choices for decision-makers. It is within the idea of alternatives, it can be argued, that the purpose of Futures Studies find meaning. This in turn raises the difficulty of clarifying the future and therefore the practice of rather presenting it as alternatives than a rigid prediction. History however, points out that this was not always the case. Viewing the future as unfolding alternatives only came about after the First and Second World Wars as the connection between war and how the future is to be perceived became more lucid.