Through its publications, INSS provides rigorous, forward‑looking research and analysis on critical national security issues that support the joint warfighter and inform Department of War decision‑makers.
Oct. 7, 2024
Thirty Years of the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction
NDU’s Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction (CSWMD), part of the Institute for National Strategic Studies, has been a trusted resource on WMD challenges to senior Defense and other interagency policy leaders for 30 years.
Sept. 23, 2024
China's Theater-Range, Dual-Capable Delivery Systems: Integrated Deterrence and Risk Reduction Approaches to Counter a Growing Threat
China has engaged in a dramatic buildup of its nuclear forces over the past decade. While much of the attention on China’s new nuclear arsenal has focused on its development and expansion of its strategic nuclear triad, this growth has also included significant numbers of theater-range, dual-capable delivery systems. These forces are not capable of reaching the U.S. mainland but can range U.S. and allied forces and bases across strategically significant swathes of the Indo-Pacific.
July 11, 2024
Information Resilience and Protecting the Norm Against Chemical Weapons: The Hague
On 20 July 2024, Senior Policy Fellow Sarah Gamberini organized a panel side session during the Executive Committee meeting in the Hague of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in an effort to bolster the norm against chemical weapons and provide countries layered solutions for countering manipulated narratives about CWC compliance.
June 12, 2024
Arms Control Monitoring Regimes
The successful negotiation of arms control agreements generally requires each participant’s implementation of, and compliance with, the terms of the agreement.
Aug. 18, 2023
2023 Biodefense Posture Review
The Biodefense Posture Review was a whole of DOD effort to develop guidance to achieve National Defense Strategy priorities and address biological threats — especially those with strategic consequences for the U.S. military.
Feb. 16, 2023
Private-Sector Research Could Pose a Pandemic Risk. Here’s What to do About It
In 2018, Canadian academics with pharmaceutical industry funding made a stunning announcement. They had synthesized horsepox, a pathogen that no longer exists in nature and that is closely related to the smallpox virus, variola. The controversial product was meant as a vaccine candidate—intended to infect humans and confer immunity without being
Jan. 17, 2023
The PLA's Strategic Support Force and AI Innovation
If China’s strategic ambitions for AI are clear, how it intends to integrate AI into the PLA remains opaque. The CCP’s goals for militarized AI are still shrouded in mystery, even as the PLA clearly views AI as a technology that will be vital for driving next-generation warfare. Our research into the SSF took a deep dive into open-source information, convened subject matter experts, and looked to scholarly analysis to form a more precise understanding of what role the SSF might be playing in the PLA’s AI innovation—and what role it definitely is not.
Sept. 16, 2022
North Korean Nuclear Command and Control: Alternatives and Implications
This study examines alternative approaches North Korea could take for command and control of its nuclear forces (NC2) as it makes critical choices on the type of nuclear strategy and posture it wishes to adopt. The report helps fill an important analytical gap in current assessments of North Korea, examines implications of North Korea’s choices for U.S. and South Korean deterrence strategies and defense planning, and helps shed light on the most recent announcements made by North Korea concerning its nuclear forces.
Aug. 30, 2022
Controlling Chemical Weapons in the New International Order
Mr. John Caves, CSWMD Distinguished Fellow, and Dr. Seth Carus, NDU Emeritus Distinguished Professor of National Security Policy examine the breakdown in consensus decision-making at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and place this development in the context of Russia, China, and Iran’s larger challenge to a rules-based international order. The article further considers how this dynamic may play out in the OPCW in the coming years and discusses how the United States can continue to use the Chemical Weapons Convention and OPCW to defend the international norm against chemical weapons while better protecting itself and its allies and partners from a greater chemical weapons threat.