In a distant future ravaged by war, a secret society stages a fake alien invasion in order to unite the world's warring factions.

Thanks guys, yeah I wasn't exactly sure where to place the focus of the narrative so didn't yet write in a specific protagonist. I thought that it might be a good juxtaposition to follow both the powerful society and an ordinary soldier unknowingly caught up in their plans, so that we follow his or her arc through the conflict. Kind of Alan Moore meets Generation Kill. There could be conflict in the society attempting to secretly have the primary attack be a kamikaze mission for those involved in order to better cover the society's tracks. This could then produce conflict amongst those in the society, which could be made up of those who have genuine altruistic desires for the plan and those who want it pursued only to pacify populations so that their business interests in some geographic areas can continue unabated. In this scenario, it could not so much be a long-standing secret society but a more cobbled-together gathering of politicians, social thinkers and business owners, the latter of whom have grown hugely powerful in this time through their businesses taking on more monopolistic control. But yeah, still grappling with an idea of the setting and the era for it.

Wouldn't it be more compelling if a secret society tried to stage a fake alien invasion in modern day as opposed to the distant future?

Totally agree with timmyelliot.

I do see where timmyelliot is coming from though. Maybe a few more little details about the pro tag would make it even better. But the premise it there and I like it