When Fiction Meets Reality: Are We Already Living in the Chaosverse?
- P.A. Hvistendahl
- Jul 27
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 12
When I began writing Chaos from the Cosmos in mid-2024, Trump was not yet back in office. My goal was to sketch a future where escalating trends—technological, geopolitical, and societal—led to systemic fragility and conflict. I was inspired by Margaret Atwood’s approach in The Handmaid’s Tale—what the New York Times described as:
“We are warned, by seeing our present selves in a distorting mirror, of what we may be turning into if current trends are allowed to continue.”
I extrapolated from existing technologies and political trends, pushing them just far enough to seem unsettling yet plausible. The result was a vision of the near future (2036–2040) filled with space warfare, hybrid conflicts, and the collapse of diplomatic norms.
At the time, it felt comfortably fictional. Then reality began to catch up.
Infrastructure on the Edge: The Fragile Web
The novel's premise hinged on one idea: our growing dependence on space-based infrastructure is both a marvel and a massive vulnerability. Satellite communications and navigation (i.e. GPS), and Earth observation have become the nervous system of our civilization. But redundancy and resilience haven't kept pace.
I depicted scenarios in which satellite networks fail or are deliberately targeted. Initially, this seemed speculative. But recent real-world disruptions—like widespread power outages in Spain and Portugal—suggest otherwise. Hybrid warfare, GPS jamming, undersea cable sabotage, and cyber interference have become everyday tools of statecraft.
As governments increasingly outsource satellite capabilities to commercial operators, the focus must shift from cost-efficiency to security, reliability, and continuity. Otherwise, we risk cascading failures across finance, transportation, and emergency systems—the exact chain reactions I envisioned in the novel.
America First 2.0: Post-Trump Isolationism
President Bradford, my fictional leader, has disdain for global alliances, no care for soft power, and a a ruthlessly transactional worldview.
He is not Trump. But the world after Trump will also not be the same as before him.
The growing disinterest in strategic partnerships, coupled with unilateral moves, echoes the book’s themes about the erosion of trust among allies. As Joseph Nye warned, soft power isn't optional in a connected world. Without it, influence wanes—and threats rise.
The Arctic Gambit: from Svalbard to Greenland
In the novel, Russia seizes Svalbard—Norway’s Arctic archipelago—using legal loopholes in the Svalbard Treaty. NATO hesitates. The U.S. demands compensation. Again, this was fiction… until Trump publicly floated buying Greenland and Norway ramped up sovereignty efforts over Svalbard.
What I wrote as strategic satire is now a geopolitical subplot.
From Satire to Living the Entertainment-Politics Nexus
The novel’s Vice President, Jackie Jill—a reality TV star turned populist politician—was meant to parody celebrity culture’s infiltration of serious governance. Instead, she now feels like a documentary figure.
In Trump’s second term, entertainment culture dominates governing culture. The merging of spectacle and politics has accelerated, blurring the line between political discourse and clickbait.
Billionaires, Rockets, and Power
Enter Sapphos Roboticus, a narcissistic billionaire who hijacks the U.S. space program. Sound familiar? When Elon Musk temporarily rebranded as "Kekius Maximus" and invoked far-right meme culture, I nearly fell out of my chair. To be clear: Sapphos is not Musk. I admire his technical accomplishments. But Chaos warned of a future in which space policy is shaped by the whims of trillionaires.
Under the Trump Administration, the trend of ultra-wealthy determining policy is accelerating. It’s a dynamic reminiscent of late-stage Rome, where the wealthiest citizens gradually lost interest in democracy, preferring empire to consensus.
When critical domains like space—once a public endeavor driven by scientific and strategic consensus—are steered by the ambitions of a small elite, the long-term implications may not have you in mind.
A New Space Race: China, Moonbases, and Engines
The novel portrayed a surging Chinese space program outpacing a distracted and underfunded U.S. effort. That prediction is unfolding. In 2025, China released new plans for lunar exploration—while the U.S. discussed slashing funding.
In a world where the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) controls China’s space infrastructure, the strategic implications are stark. Space is no longer a neutral domain—it’s contested territory. Whether it’s lunar bases, plasma engines, or orbital surveillance, the stakes are climbing fast.
Does the United States really want the PLA to dominate the Moon’s best locations, its resources and set the standards for access? Do Americans want the Chinese government to have the equivalent of Star Wars’ Death Star above them from someone they increasingly consider their enemy?
Drones, AI, and Military Escalation
One of the book’s darker elements was autonomous weapons using facial recognition to target officers. Fiction? Perhaps. But U.S. defense contractors are reportedly building similar systems. The line between fiction and operations manual is razor-thin.
More alarming is the talk of space nuclear weapons. One of my major concerns have gratefully not played out: a nuclear explosion in high altitude. But India and Pakistan, two countries with such capabilites, did have a small war. NATO officials have warned of potential Russian deployments. We are entering an era of space-based deterrence—where mistakes could have planetary consequences.
Hybrid Warfare: The War Without a Declaration
Hybrid conflict—blending propaganda, cyberattacks, legal ambiguity, and infrastructure disruption—was a central theme of Chaos. In 2025, these tactics are no longer abstract. They define modern confrontation.
From cable sabotage to satellite spoofing, the gray zone between peace and war is growing larger and darker. Democracies are struggling to respond without clear legal frameworks or consensus on escalation thresholds.
Cutting Your Own Eyes Out: Self-Sabotage in Space
In the novel, foreign actors destroy U.S. space assets. In reality, proposed budget cuts to NOAA and NASA may achieve the same outcome—internally. Trump’s administration has proposed slashing NOAA’s funding—threatening weather prediction and disaster response. In a warming world, this is like promoting national blindness.
The Quantum Precipice
A major turning point in Chaos was a quantum breakthrough that rendered all digital encryption obsolete. While such an event hasn't yet occurred, the foundations are being laid.
Worryingly, the Trump administration’s latest executive orders may actually reduce preparedness for quantum threats. The danger isn’t distant—it’s accelerating.
Economic Collapse: Debt and Denial
In Chaos, a $100 trillion debt triggers an economic crisis that ushers in authoritarian leadership. Today’s fiscal politics—marked by denial, populism, and unsustainable promises—echo that scenario alarmingly well. In the United States, Europe, and elsewhere.
No one seems able to stop the bleeding. The debt crisis won't be managed. It will be imposed—by inflation, currency collapse, and a whole lot of pain.
Absurdity Meets Reality: “Stranded” Astronauts
A lighter subplot imagined a global competition to “rescue” astronauts who weren’t actually in danger. And then it happened. President Trump ordered SpaceX to extract astronauts from the ISS—despite NASA confirming there was no threat.
The absurd becomes real. Again.
Other Predictions (Too Close for Comfort)
Several other plotlines have surfaced in the news:
A female presidential candidate rises mid-campaign to replace a male heavyweight following his abrupt withdrawal.
An assassination attempt (thankfully unsuccessful).
Xi Jinping signals intentions to seize Taiwan by 2030.
When Fiction Becomes a Blueprint
Speculative fiction is meant to explore “what if.” But when the “what ifs” unfold in real time—under the leadership of the very figure the book sought to post-script—it’s no longer fiction. It’s a flashing red light. I wrote the book to highlight fragilities among all the wonderful services space will bring to us. I did not expect Chaos from the Cosmos to look more like a documentary than a hard sci-fi novel.
But here we are. The real question isn’t whether these scenarios could happen anymore.
It’s whether we’re ready for what happens next.
Paris, July 2025
Hopefully not to be updated.
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