Table of Contents
- Fueling the Fight for Net Neutrality
- Embracing Ranked-Choice Voting as a Pathway to Pluralism
- Measuring U.S. Drone Use and Misuse
- Fulfilling the Promise of Child Savings Accounts
- Linking the Individual Mandate and Social Responsibility
- Tracking Terrorism in the United States
- Early Education Doesn't End at Pre-K
- Making Higher Education Outcomes Transparent
- Redefining Care Policy
- Using TV "White Spaces" to Create Equitable Internet Access
- Investing in America's Future Thinkers
- Proposing the Public Option
- Creating a Public Interest Technology Sector
- Building a New Practice of Public Problem-Solving
- Expanding Access to High School-Age Youth for High-Quality Apprenticeship Opportunities
- Engaging North Korea
- A Universal 401(k) Plan
- Measuring the Internet for Everyone
- Rethinking Economic Policy
- Documenting the Long Wars
- Ranking Digital Rights
- Future Tense
- Using Fiction to Make Policy More…Realistic
- Pop-Up Magazine
- Developing an MA in Global Security
- Helping Communities Deploy Mesh Networks
- Partnering with Universities
Using Fiction to Make Policy More…Realistic
Idea
Combining narrative and nonfiction to create a new form of book—and means of policy influence.
Incubation
Peter Singer wrote multiple award-winning nonfiction books prior to coming to New America. But for his exploration of the future of war and technology, he created a unique blend of thrilling fiction and deep-dive research designed to both entertain and inform. Co-authored with August Cole, his book Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War combined the format of a techno-thriller with over 400 endnote references to explore what armed conflict between the United States, China, and Russia might look like. Its scenarios were not only grounded in real research, but also allowed the project to warn of potential dangers ahead, inspire readers to action via a non-traditional format, and reach a larger audience.
Impact
The result was a best-selling book read at both summer beach vacations and military officer courses. The project’s “useful fiction” model became a phenomenon, influencing military projects and tactics (a three billion dollar Navy program was even named after it), sparking congressional legislation and investigations, and changing professional military education (Ghost Fleet was featured on multiple professional reading lists for the military services and even became the basis of a course at National War College). Singer has since spoken on the project’s lessons at over 300 venues ranging from the White House and Pentagon to CIA and Congress.