In '2034,' an Admiral and a Marine Combat Veteran Imagine the Next World War Adm. James Stavridis and Marine combat veteran Elliot Ackerman are authors of "2034: A Novel of the Next World War." (Photos by Tim Llewellyn and Huger Foote, courtesy Penguin Press) 9 Mar 2021 In military time, a dozen years is not a large leap into the future. Most active American ships and aircraft were already deploying 13 years ago, and will still be in service as many years hence. So it's not surprising that the world of "2034," the apocalyptic new war novel from Elliot Ackerman and retired Adm. James Stavridis, feels so familiar. The U.S. Navy is still laboring to counter Chinese sovereignty claims in the South China Sea; Iran still looms as an unstable threat; and the Defense Department remains beset by cyber vulnerabilities ripe for exploitation.