PUBLICATIONS

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.

 

Publications

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Category: Homeland Defense

A photo of an astronaut in space with earth in the background. The words ASCEND are in large letters across the top, with 19-21 May 2026 | Washington, DC spelled out underneath.

May 26, 2026

INSS Participates in ASCEND 2026 Panel Discussion

Mr. Todd Pennington, INSS Senior Fellow for Space Strategy and Policy, was a panelist at ASCEND 2026, the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics' annual conference on spacepower.

Headshots of Mr. Todd Pennington (left), Senior Fellow for Space Strategy and Policy at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, and Professor Laura Donohue (right), Director of the Center on National Security at Georgetown Law Center underneath the words "NatSec EmTech: Jurisprudence in ZeroG: SpaceLaw101"

May 6, 2026

INSS Joins NatSec EmTech Podcast to Discuss Outer Space Law

Mr. Todd Pennington, Senior Fellow for Space Strategy and Policy at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, recently appeared on the National Security Emerging Technology Podcast (NatSec EmTech) with host Professor Laura Donohue, Director of the Center on National Security at Georgetown Law Center.

Graphic for the U.S. Cyber Command Legal Conference.

April 30, 2026

INSS Participates in 2026 U.S. Cyber Command Legal Conference

Mr. Todd Pennington, Senior Fellow for Space Strategy and Policy, participated in a panel on "Ambiguity in the Electromagnetic Spectrum: Legal and Policy Clarity at the Intersection of Cyber and Electromagnetic Operations" at the 2026 U.S. Cyber Command Legal Conference, held at Fort Meade, Maryland.

Cover of “Targets, Treaties, and Trade Secrets: Understanding Space Hybrid Architecture’s Legal Challenges,” showing satellites orbiting Earth; by Kim Sloan and Todd Pennington, April 2026.

April 16, 2026

Targets, Treaties, and Trade Secrets: Understanding Space Hybrid Architecture’s Legal Challenges

Space is a domain accessible to all states for civil, commercial, military, and intelligence activities.

An image of Earth from the point of view in space with a satellite in the frame. Assured PNT Summit written in the top left.

April 9, 2026

INSS Participates in 6th Annual Assured PNT Summit

Mr. Todd Pennington was a panelist at the 6th Annual Assured Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Summit.

A graphic for the episode, "Strategy in Cislunar Space and Beyond" for The Space Advisory Podcast, featuring Mr. Todd Pennington. Todd Pennington is featured prominently on the right-hand side in front of a blue background with details about the podcast on the left-hand side.

March 31, 2026

Strategy in Cislunar Space and Beyond

Mr. Todd Pennington was the featured guest on this month's episode of the Space Advisory Podcast, discussing his recent paper on strategy in space frontier areas (xGEO and cislunar space, and beyond).

Cover Image for Terrorism and Political Violence, Volume 38, Issue 2, (2026), Special Issue: A Legacy of David C. Rapoport

March 10, 2026

From Theory to Policy: The Four Waves and U.S. Counterterrorism

This article examines United States (U.S.) counterterrorism policy through the lens of David C. Rapoport’s four waves theory.

Cover of Strategic Perspectives 45, Stable (green) and unstable (purple) manifold arcs associated with an Earth-Moon L1 halo orbit in the circular-restricted three-body problem (CR3BP), illustrating low-energy dynamical pathways used for cislunar transfer design.

Feb. 12, 2026

Understanding Space Frontier Areas

Distant reaches of space loom as a strategic horizon. The vast majority of space operations have, so far, been limited to a few families of near-Earth orbits. However, space beyond geostationary Earth orbit, or xGEO, is likely to become important for strategic purposes in the near future. This is especially true of cislunar space, that region of space in which the gravity of Earth’s moon is significant. This paper refers to xGEO and cislunar space as Space Frontier Areas, since missions there have not yet reached sufficient scale to cluster into patterns of use.

The icebreaker USCGC Healy (WAGB 20) keeps station while conducting crane operations alongside a multi-year ice floe for a science evolution in the Beaufort Sea, Aug. 9, 2023. Healy is the Coast Guard’s only icebreaker specifically designed for Arctic research, as well as the nation’s sole surface presence routinely operating in the Arctic Ocean.

Jan. 22, 2026

The Arctic is a Strategic Distraction

Over the past five years, numerous articles have called for increased U.S. defense resources focused on the Arctic. This is a strategic mistake, a distraction.

Cover of the CTC Sentinel publication featuring a police officer standing in front of an anti-terrorism awareness poster. The top banner reads ‘Combating Terrorism Center at West Point – CTC Sentinel.’ The main feature articles listed are ‘Terrorism Risk: Theory, Practice, and Evolution’ and an interview with Admiral Frank Bradley.

Nov. 25, 2025

Foreign Terrorist Fighters: A Threat in Stasis

The threat of foreign fighters today is best understood as being in stasis.