PUBLICATIONS

Through its publications INSS provides cutting-edge research, analyses, and innovative solutions on critical national security issues in support of the joint warfighter and Department of Defense stakeholders.

 

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Strategic Insights | Aug. 20, 2025

China’s Military Diplomacy in Africa

This article shows another application for regional researchers, analysts, and policymakers. Specifically, it uses the database to explore some specific aspects of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA’s) evolving engagement in Africa.
INSS Around the Web | Aug. 13, 2025

INSS China Center Researchers join School of War Podcast

INSS China Center Director Dr. Phillip Saunders and Senior Research Fellow Dr. Joel Wuthnow are interviewed discussing their new book China’s Quest for Military Supremacy on the latest School of War podcast.
INSS Around the Web | Aug. 13, 2025

Dr. Joel Wuthnow quoted in NYT on challenges within China's military

On 10 August, INSS China Center Senior Research Fellow Dr. Joel Wuthnow was quoted in a New York Times story by Chris Buckley titled “Xi Looks to Tighten Grip After Scandals Shake China’s Military Elite.”
INSS Around the Web | Aug. 6, 2025

How the U.S. and China Use Deterrence to Preserve Peace

On 1 August 2025, INSS China Center Senior Research Fellow Joel Wuthnow appeared in a National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Faultlines video on “How the U.S. and China Use Deterrence to Preserve Peace.”
INSS Around the Web | Aug. 6, 2025

INSS China Center Researchers join China Desk Podcast

On 5 August 2025, INSS China Center Director Phillip Saunders and Center Senior Research Fellow Joel Wuthnow appeared on the China Desk podcast with Steve Yates to discuss their book China’s Quest for Military Supremacy.
Strategic Insights | Aug. 5, 2025

Visualizing China’s Military Diplomacy

The National Defense University (NDU) recently released a major update to its comprehensive, publicly available database tracking the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) international military-diplomatic engagements from 2002 to 2024.
INSS Around the Web | Aug. 1, 2025

The Variables of OPCON: The History of the "Control Rod" Logic

The control rod logic, while not outwardly promoted by U.S. officials, had reemerged to shape the process around the status of wartime OPCON.
INSS Around the Web | July 30, 2025

COMMENTARY: Insect-Sized Microdrones: A Tiny Vector for Big Biothreats

Recent demonstrations by China’s National University of Defense Technology, aired on state broadcast CCTV-7, revealed mosquito-sized robotic micro-unmanned aerial vehicles that are approximately two centimeters long and weigh 0.3 grams.
INSS Around the Web | July 28, 2025

INSS researchers join Battle Lines Podcast on the Chinese military

Dr. Phillip Saunders and Dr. Joel Wuthnow (CSCMA) joined Battle Lines for a three-part series focused on the Chinese military.
INSS Around the Web | July 28, 2025

China’s military: How it went from obsolete to world-class

Dr. Phillip Saunders and Dr. Joel Wuthnow join Battle Lines, The Telegraph's Defence & Foreign Affairs Podcast.
Strategic Insights | July 28, 2025

Bold New Bioweapons: Part 2 — Bold Bolstering of Deterrence and Defense

Last week’s Strategic Insights addressed how biotechnology has emerged as a foundational and formidable element in the evolving character of warfare. The integrative convergence of big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced
INSS Around the Web | July 24, 2025

Russia Is Losing Its Near Abroad

Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine is one piece of a broader campaign to restore a sphere of influence in post-Soviet Eurasia.
Strategic Forums | July 22, 2025

Drone Delivery of Bioweapons: Responsibilities for Force Readiness

The U.S. National Drone Association recently sponsored the inaugural international U.S. Military Drone Crucible Championship to provide a venue for American and allied military drone training, advanced piloting, operational utility, and
Strategic Insights | July 21, 2025

Bold New Bioweapons: Part 1 — The Burdens of Detection and Attribution

It has been more than fifty years since the ratification of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1972, which sought to provide a formalized venue for international control and prohibition of development, production, and stockpiling of
INSS Around the Web | July 16, 2025

INSS joins Power Vertical Podcast to talk rising tensions between Russia...

In this episode of The Power Vertical Podcast, host Brian Whitmore speaks with Jeffrey Mankoff about rising tensions between Russia and Azerbaijan following a brutal crackdown and arrests on both sides.
INSS Around the Web | July 16, 2025

Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Geopolitics in the South Caucasus

Jeffrey Mankoff, a Distinguished Research Fellow in the INSS Center for Strategy and Military Power (CSMP), joined The Russian Roulette podcast.
Joint Force Quarterly | July 15, 2025

Joint Force Quarterly 118 (3rd Quarter 2025)

This issue of Joint Force Quarterly addresses key strategic, operational, and doctrinal questions shaping the future of the joint force.
Strategic Insights | July 14, 2025

Major Concerns About Microelectronics

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is decisively shaping the future of warfare. It accelerates decision cycles, extends operational reach, and enables exercised control of the informational, and cognitive dimensions of engagement.
Strategic Insights | July 8, 2025

Strategic Innovation in the DoD FY 2026 RDTE Budget: Leveraging Disrupti...

The Department of Defense FY 2026 Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDTE) budget request marks a strategic inflection that reflects a doctrinal shift toward convergent disruptive technologies, and with it, a re-posturing of how deterrence,
INSS Around the Web | July 7, 2025

Super Soldiers or Social Burden? Ethical Exploration of the Benefits and...

Biotechnological enhancements for military personnel arouse scrutiny, beyond the ethics of experimental research and due care during operational service, to the eventual return to a civilian life.