The Next World War
In the early hours of August third, 2032, an elite Russian assault team quietly slipped through a forest deep inside the NATO allied country of Estonia. Their target: the Ämari Lennubaas air force base, located approximately 35 kilometers southwest of the Estonian capital of Tallinn. The lightly defended airbase proved no match for the surprise Russian attack. Within moments the defenders of the airbase were overrun, outside communications were cut and the control tower seized. Minutes later, four civilian passenger jets off the Baltic coast suddenly broke contact with their controllers, descended and landed at the air base. Russian Forces quickly disembarked, paving the way for the tens of thousands of forces soon to follow from air, sea and land. The invasion of the Baltics has begun. And with it: World War Three.
So begins the cautionary tale of a hypothetical third world war, told by John Forsberg, creator of the immensely successful YouTube Channel, FLAT CIRCLE HISTORY, dedicated to telling episodic stories of near-future conflicts styled in the form of documentaries, giving a view of potential wars to come - both from a strategic level, down to the horrors of battle experienced by individual soldiers.
From the Baltics to the arctic, the United States, to the Taiwan Strait, the story of The Next World War is terrifying and timely.
The Flat Circle History series, THE NEXT WORLD WAR, asks the question: can the US and its allies once again win a two-front war a half a world apart? Or through miscalculation or insanity, will it all end in nuclear annihilation?
Season 1 of THE NEXT WORLD WAR just completed, with season 2 in development and 5 total seasons planned.
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LATEST RELEASE!
Episode 14: Betrayal and Retribution
“Hauntingly realistic.”
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Why FLAT CIRCLE HISTORY?
As a child of the cold war, a very long time ago I read the book, “The Third World War” by Sir John Hackett. Even though I was in my early teens and only understood a portion of it, the story and its non-fiction style felt terrifyingly real to me. This, from a kid at the time who was plotting blast radius circles on my father’s state road atlas, wondering if our house was in range of being incinerated. Point being, that which terrifies us, fascinates us. The thought of a third world war was both of those things to me. In the early 90’s, I thought that possibility was thankfully behind us. Not anymore. With events in Ukraine, the Middle East and tensions rising in the Indo-Pacific, In 2023 I created Flat Circle History, the name a nod to Nietzsche and his phrase, "Time is a flat circle", in the hopes of providing a cautionary tale and a proper peek into the future, so that maybe we won't repeat the past.
Getting the story right:
From the US to Europe and Asia, I have interviewed scores of current and former military personnel and defense industry professionals; from combat pilots to naval intelligence, cyberwarfare experts to defense equipment manufacturers, all to help refine the story and ensure its plausibility. More than once, those interviews have rocked me back in my chair, the information provided leaving me deeply unsettled. My next instinct, as always, is to immediately find a way to incorporate it into my story.
An eye for detail:
In many cases, the locations of scenes are real. From the location of the Marine MEU battle near Tapa, Estonia, to the NATO defense of Rezekne, Latvia, I scouted my locations through Google Maps, then Street View, rebuilding those locations as close as possible. Will the casual observer know that the radio tower near Ignašāni is where it is in real life? Or when the passenger jet crashes into the roadway at Tuscon International Airport, it’s the real-life East Valencia Road? Nope. Will a local? Very possibly (and some have contacted to tell me!). Mostly I do it for me, combining a love of cartography, storytelling and authenticity. Plus, it helps draw me into the world I’m creating. I want to see and feel what’s happening, incorporating in as many senses as possible, and the more I know it’s
How are these episodes created?
Mostly through gaming platforms, including:
ARMA3: used for people and close-up shots using a TON of mods created by the ARMA3 community. Are the graphics dated? Yep. ARMA3 is over a decade old. But if I need a Lithuanian combat uniform, or a Russian Lancet-3 drone, I can find it there. In ARMA3 I build my sets and code the characters to fight, walk and talk… sometimes with bizarre effects. Lots of blooper reels via ARMA3.
DCS: used for aircraft, some ground and naval scenes. Provides some stunning aerial views.
Cold Waters: naval surface and sub warfare.
Command Modern Operations: typically for showing radar scenes.
X-Plane: used for civilian aviation and when I need aerials of locations (White House, etc.)
Who does the voice-over narration?
ElevenLabs: the main narrator and characters are all created in ElevenLabs. I tried to do it myself in the first beta and yeah, I’m not cut out for that.
About John Forsberg
Three authors in my teens set me on this path: JRR Tolkien, Tom Clancy and Sir John Hackett. Tolkien for the world-building, Clancy for the detail, Hackett for the relevancy. Since then, I’ve always been writing. In 2014 I wrote a successful self-published sci-fi book that told of a near-future war in space. The amazing reader responses told me that maybe I had some writing chops to do more of this. Then, life happens and it wasn’t until 2023, after retiring from the tech industry, that I began writing a follow-up to the sci-fi book, but with Ukraine at war and watching the gut-wrenching news out of Bucha and Irpin… I felt compelled to write something closer to the now, and closer to my heart. So began Flat Circle History. In June of 2023 I released the first few episodes, crossed my fingers, and kept writing and creating. In November, it suddenly took off and opened doors to fans and contacts in the defense and national security realm that I would have dreamt possible. And here we are! And I’m having a ball.
