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 31, 2026
Defining the Palette of Biodeterrence: Appreciating a Broader Toolkit
As noted in the recently released Biodeterrence Framework, biological weapons present a uniquely complex challenge to traditional models of deterrence, in that their development can be concealed within ostensibly legitimate scientific enterprise, their effects may be delayed or ambiguous, and their attribution can often be difficult, particularly given the increasingly broadened scope of biothreat possibilities.
March 19, 2026
A Framework for Biological Weapons Deterrence Rollout Event
On 12 March, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the National Defense University (NDU) co-hosted the Framework for Biological Weapons Deterrence: Report Rollout event.
March 17, 2026
Biodeterrence in an Era of Convergent Threats
A recent report reveals that the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) has increasing focus upon and fiscal dedication to biosciences and biotechnology, with an estimated economic commitment of 5-8% of its total national research and development spending, amounting to approximately $32 billion in comparable USD in annual funding.
March 16, 2026
A Framework for Biological Weapons Deterrence
The United States and its allies and partners face a rapidly expanding array of biothreats, to include the potential employment of increasingly sophisticated and lethal biological weapons (BW).
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.
Oct. 20, 2021
Future Directions for Great Power Nuclear Arms Control: Policy Options and National Security Implications
With New START expiring in 2026, this Occasional Paper by 2020 National Defense University-U.S. Strategic Command Scholar Lt T. Justin Bronder, USAF, provides an assessment of several possible nuclear arms control/risk reduction approaches for the United States to consider. The author evaluates each approach for its possible impact on U.S.-Russia strategic stability, extended deterrence, budget costs, and other key factors, and recommends that in the near-term the United States engage other major nuclear powers in talks on new risk reduction and confidence-building measures.
June 28, 2021
Toward Nuclear and WMD Fluency in Professional Military Education
This article is one of the first products of CSWMD’s first WMD Educators Forum, which provided a venue for dialog and served as an accelerator for teaching methods and learning outcomes for WMD across the DoD. The article draws on recent experience in creating benchmarks for education on nuclear capabilities and concepts, and suggests how this can be done for other critical aspects of the WMD challenge.
March 18, 2021
Quantum Sensing's Potential Impacts on Strategic Deterrence and Modern Warfare
Sarah Jacobs Gamberini and Lawrence Rubin recently wrote an article in the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Orbis journal of world affairs researching how quantum sensing could impact WMD, deterrence, and modern warfare.
Dec. 13, 2019
Russia's Hypersonic Weapons
While Russian hypersonic weapons could pose problems for U.S. and NATO defense planning, their introduction in the near-term is not likely to fundamentally alter the existing balance of power or the prospects for strategic stability.