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Founded in 1984, the Institute for National Strategic Studies is the National Defense University’s dedicated research component.

 

INSS China Nuclear Capabilities Research

David C. Logan and Phillip C. Saunders, “Implications of a PRC Shift to a Launch-On-Warning Nuclear Posture,” DTRA study, July 2025, report and executive summary (attached)

Justin Anderson and Christoper Andrews, “Intra-Conflict Deterrence in the Indo-Pacific” DTRA study, April 2025, report and executive summary (Justin told me this is cleared for public release, but I only have the pdf for the USG-only version. Chris Andrews or Justin can provide the files).

David C. Logan and Phillip C. Saunders, Discerning the Drivers of China’s Nuclear Force Development: Models, Indicators, and Data, China Strategic Perspectives 18 (July 2023).

Phillip C. Saunders, “China,” in Jeffrey A. Larsen and M. Shane Smith, eds., Arms Control at a Crossroads: Renewal or Demise? (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2024), 91-110. (CHAPTER NOT AVAILABLE ON WEB)

Phillip C. Saunders and David C. Logan, “The Implications of the PLA’s Nuclear Expansion and Modernization for China’s Crisis Behavior” in Roy D. Kamphausen, ed., China’s Military Decision-making in Crisis and Conflict (Seattle: National Bureau of Asian Research, 2023), 151-174. https://www.nbr.org/publication/the-implications-of-the-plas-nuclear-expansion-and-modernization-for-chinas-crisis-behavior/

Phillip C. Saunders, “The Military Factor in US-China Strategic Competition,” in Evan S. Medeiros, ed., Cold Rivals: The New Era of US-China Strategic Competition (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2023), 205-232. (CHAPTER NOT AVAILABLE ON WEB; ONLY PARTLY NUCLEAR FOCUSED)

Phillip C. Saunders and David C. Logan, “China’s Regional Nuclear Capability, Non-Nuclear Strategic Systems, and Integration of Concepts and Operations,” in James M. Smith and Paul J. Bolt, eds., China's Strategic Arsenal: Worldview, Doctrine, and Systems (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2021), 125-157. (CHAPTER NOT AVAILABLE ON WEB)

David Logan, “Making Sense of China’s Missile Forces,” in Phillip C. Saunders, et al., eds., Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms (Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, 2019). https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Publications/Books/Chairman-Xi-Remakes-the-PLA/

David M. Logan, “China’s Future SSBN Command and Control Structure,” INSS Strategic Forum 299, November 2016.
https://inss.ndu.edu/Media/News/Article/1013477/chinas-future-ssbn-command-and-control-structure/

David Logan, “PLA Reforms and China’s Nuclear Forces,” Joint Force Quarterly 83 (4th Quarter), October 2016, 57-62. https://inss.ndu.edu/Media/News/Article/1013477/chinas-future-ssbn-command-and-control-structure/