Alternative Futures: What Comes Next
The Alternative Futures framework
Alternative Futures is FGS Global's framework for planning through periods where multiple, interacting uncertainties make a single forecast unreliable. Rather than betting on one outcome, it maps the plausible environments that could follow and asks one question of each: if this were the one that materialized, what would we do differently?
Learn more about the framework that will help you plan through political and policy uncertainty, applied to the 2026 midterms and built for the two years that follow.
5 uncertainties, 1 interconnected system
Transition
Is the result broadly accepted, politically disruptive, or perceived as illegitimate?
Interpretation
What do elected Republicans and Democrats believe voters told them?
Policy environment
How is power distributed between Congress and the executive branch?
GOP succession
Who inherits Trump's coalition, and how is it decided?
Democratic future
Which theory of political change do Democrats believe can win?
None of these resolve in isolation, and all five unfold against structural shifts already in motion: voter dissatisfaction, technological disruption, and generational change.
With the votes cast, the question shifts from who wins to understanding exposure.
Questions for assessing policy exposure
Direction
Which policies could gain or lose political support?
Velocity
How quickly could change happen?
Mechanism
Will policy move through Congress, the executive branch, agencies, states, or courts?
Durability
How exposed is the policy to litigation or reversal?
Political exposure
Which sectors, companies, or practices could attract scrutiny?
Strategic optionality
Where does the business depend too heavily on one version of the political future?
Running a decision through those six questions answers one question: if this were the environment that materialized, what would we do differently? The answer sorts into four categories: what to act on now, what to prepare but hold in reserve, where to preserve optionality, and what to monitor, with a named owner for each signpost.
Watch the replay: Reading the Signals
Experts from FGS Global and the Atlantic Council explored the geopolitical implications of a new Congress across China, artificial intelligence and technology, and energy. Watch to learn how governments, businesses, and markets can position for the years ahead.
Talk to FGS Global
We start with senior-leader interviews and an executive discussion, not a large-scale scenario exercise. The goal is to find the three to five uncertainties that could actually change your business, reputation, or stakeholder strategy.
Depending on what that surfaces, the next step might be deeper scenario analysis, stakeholder mapping, executive positioning, message stress-testing, crisis preparation, or a refresh of political relationships. We only go deeper where the work shows that different futures would genuinely require different choices.
We also build the monitoring layer: signposts that tell you when the environment is moving away from your current assumptions, with a named owner for each one, so this becomes something your organization tracks systematically.
Talk to your FGS Global contact or reach out to AlternativeFutures@fgsglobal.com to see how this applies to your organization.