War games: Washington think tank recruits ‘Call of Duty’ creator

A Washington think tank is recruiting the mastermind behind the best-selling “Call of Duty” video games to help policy wonks imagine future wars America may have to fight. Dave Anthony, whose blockbuster gaming franchise has earned billions of dollars, is among a group of writers and producers enlisted by the Atlantic Council to look at how armed conflicts might evolve in the 21st Century. The initiative, “The Art of Future War Project,” which launches next week, was born when Steven Grundman, a former Pentagon official now at the Atlantic Council, found himself impressed by the story line of a video game his son was playing.

Writers, directors and producers and other artists bring to bear observations derived from wholly different experiences in the creative world. They can ask different kinds of questions that will challenge assumptions and status quo ways of tackling some of today’s toughest national security problems.

The Atlantic Council, in a statement.

Anthony, 41, said there is no shortage of scenarios outlining future threats to the United States, with a plethora of experts, books and films forecasting dangers on the horizon. “The problem is we’re not preparing for it. And the government is not set up to prepare for it. That’s what I want to question. “What can we do about that?” Anthony said. “The stock answers are — ‘well, we don’t have the money for it’ or ‘we can’t possibly predict what’s coming next so why bother.’ That’s what I want to blow apart.” Instead of a power point presentation, common at think tanks, Anthony plans to show slick videos when he appears at the program’s launch in Washington on Tuesday.

Technology