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.
July 20, 2020
An End to Exquisite Weapons
The convergence of new technologies is creating smaller, cheaper, autonomous weapons that challenge America’s arsenal of few, costly, but exquisite weapons. This convergence also presents the nation with an opportunity to field forces that are not only more effective, but also cheaper. By focusing on weapons systems that can be made platform-agnostic—launching from air, sea, or land—the U.S. can forgo the huge expense of many of today’s weapons systems.
Al-Qaeda’s Iran Dilemma: Evidence from the Abbottabad Records
Through a comprehensive review of documents recovered from Usama bin Ladin’s Abbottabad compound, this study provides a new periodization of al-Qaeda’s relationship with Iran. The analysis reveals that al-Qaeda often had to reconcile conflicting operational and ideational pressures in its interactions with the Islamic Republic over time. Beyond offering insight into the trajectory of this important relationship and direction for future scholarship, the analysis suggests some ways through which the United States might expand the strategic wedge that exists between these unlikely allies and highlights the need for a more flexible understanding of state sponsored terrorism.
July 14, 2020
Terrorism in Afghanistan: A Joint Threat Assessment (Chapter III)
Chapter III: Afghanistan in the Regional Security Interplay ContextAs it has for centuries, Afghanistan, based on its location, sits at the intersection of many competing regional and international security agendas. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the geostrategic security interplay between the British and Russian Empires provided the backdrop
July 13, 2020
Western Way of War
RUSI Western Way of War audio discussion featuring Dr. Frank Hoffman.
June 24, 2020
How Will the EU Survive the Coronavirus?
What will be the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on Europe? How will the pandemic change the trajectory of European development? One way to answer these questions is to ask where Europe seemed to be headed before the coronavirus struck and then assess what is likely to change as a result of the pandemic. We will address these questions based
June 23, 2020
An Affordable Defense of Asia
US military advantages over China are steadily eroding…
June 10, 2020
China’s Inopportune Pandemic Assertiveness
For a state just beginning to recover from Covid-19, China has been remarkably active in pressing its sovereignty claims. Chinese forces have been involved in a spate of incidents around its borders, most recently a series of tense encounters with India. Foreign media have seized on this as another example of Chinese opportunism, in which Beijing
May 11, 2020
Still First to Fight? Shaping the 21st Century Marine Corps
The headline in the New York Times on June 1, 1918, read “Marines – First to Fight.” The day before, a brigade of Marines attached to the U.S. Army’s 2nd Division had raced to the Western Front to halt a breakthrough threatening Paris. They stopped the Germans cold, and five days later, the brigade successfully counterattacked at Belleau Wood
May 7, 2020
Governing a Pandemic
In their article in Inkstick, Ms. Sarah Jacobs Gamberini and Ms. Amanda Moodie examine China's authoritarian approach to COVID-19 in the context of great power competition.
April 20, 2020
An American Perspective on Post-Pandemic Geopolitics
Viewed from the other side of the Atlantic, the coronavirus crisis will have significant geopolitical implications in the near term, becoming possibly even more significant over the next few years.With this in mind, we should expect politics in Europe and the US to be more focused on the current health crisis and its follow-on implications.