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.
March 11, 2026
Precision in Words, Precision in Warfare: Terminology and Control in Military Discourse on Unmanned Systems
Unmanned vehicular systems (UVS) spanning aerial, maritime, terrestrial, and sub-surface domains have become integral to intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), logistics, strike operations, and electronic warfare. Yet despite the increasing ubiquity and sophistication of these technologies, discourse surrounding their capabilities can be undermined by imprecise terminology that conflates the terms automatic, remote, and autonomous in policy, technical, operational, strategic and policy briefings and planning.
Feb. 25, 2026
Strategic Assessment 2025: Evolving Great Power Competition at Mid-Decade
This mid-decade review of contemporary Great Power competition is most welcome because it presents U.S. political leadership and the national security community with an opportunity to reflect on the inherent challenges in this latest round of geopolitical rivalry. Although the turn toward contestation among the United States, China, and Russia (as well as others) was formally acknowledged by Washington first in its 2017 National Security Strategy, Great Power competition had never disappeared from the international system even during the halcyon days after the Cold War’s ending.
Feb. 10, 2026
Decision-Based Artificial Intelligence and the Strategic Reordering of Military Power
The public acknowledgement of the increasing use of decision-based artificial intelligence (AI) in U.S. defense provides a backdrop to a structural reordering of how military missions will be generated, exercised, and contested.
July 10, 2020
Innovation and Its Discontents: National Models of Military Innovation and the Dual-Use Conundrum
Dr. Amy J. Nelson's Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) Report explores variations in national models of innovation, as well as the pathways or levers those models afford in controlling innovation’s end product with a focus on dual-use technologies. The report uses case studies of both U.S. and German investment in artificial intelligence and additive manufacturing to highlight national approaches to innovation.