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June 7, 2021

Back from the Brink? Prospects for U.S.-Russia Relations

As the current American and Russian leaders, Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, prepare for their first summit on June 16 in Geneva, prospects are slim for the kind of breakthrough achieved by Reagan and Gorbachev. Tensions remain high due to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and subsequent invasion of Ukraine; its interference in U.S. elections; its aggressive behavior in cyberspace—including the recent SolarWinds hack, which compromised a range of public and private sector entities across the West—and the sanctions that Washington imposed in response to all those activities. ...

May 25, 2021

Arms Control in Today’s (Dis)Information Environment Part II

Dr. Justin Anderson's recent article is the second in a series of papers by Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) Fellows examining Arms Control in Today’s (Dis)information Environment. The goal of the series is to contribute to a discussion about how disinformation could play a role in future arms control treaties and agreements.

May 19, 2021

Managed Risks, Managed Expectations: How Far Will Targeted Killing Get the United States in Afghanistan?

The United States may be withdrawing from Afghanistan, but thus far al-Qaeda certainly hasn’t. The central instrument in the U.S. arsenal to prevent al-Qaeda from reemerging will inevitably be the monitoring and targeted killing of al-Qaeda operatives residing in or near Afghanistan.

May 11, 2021

Arms Control in Today’s (Dis)Information Environment Part I

Ms. Sarah Jacobs Gamberini's recent article for Inkstick Media examines arms control and disinformation. This is the first article in series of papers by Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) Fellows on Arms Control in Today’s (Dis)information Environment. The goal of the series is to contribute to a discussion about how disinformation could play a role in future arms control treaties and agreements.

May 5, 2021

Alliance in Evolution: The Biden-Suga Summit

The Biden‒Suga Summit represents the latest phase in the evolution of the U.S.‒Japan Alliance. What follows outlines the steps in the adaptation of this critical alliance made by governments in Washington and Tokyo.  This paper relies upon key statements made in the most recent summits to strengthen the alliance and broaden its perspective and interests.  

May 4, 2021

#Reviewing Power on the Precipice: The Six Choices America Faces in a Turbulent World

Power on the Precipice offers a less poetic, but equally vivid, evaluation of a United States in decline.[2] The theme of the rise and fall of great powers goes back to Edward Gibbon’s classic study of the Roman Empire, and Paul Kennedy broadened our understanding in The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, with an emphasis on finance and economics.[3] More recently Michael Beckley explored the interaction between a rising China and the United States and found more cause for optimism in his Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World's Sole Superpower.[4]  

April 28, 2021

Great Power Competition Explained

Dr. Thomas F. Lynch. III discusses Great Power Competition with FPRI on the Chain Reaction Podcast.

April 21, 2021

U.S. Defense Strategy After The Pandemic

After a year of loss and lockdowns, America’s vaccination efforts are slowly allowing the country to reopen. At long last, things are very slowly starting to feel normal. Among other things, this moment provides analysts the opportunity to consider how the pandemic has affected domestic support for America’s defense strategy, and whether the country will be able to afford it over the long term. This will be a difficult conversation, as it will necessarily require questioning longstanding assumptions in America’s strategic community.

April 7, 2021

A Year Of Working Intentionally

In the second article in Inkstick's series on The Future of National Security Work, CSWMD's Sarah Jacobs Gamberini pens a personal essay on the unexpected benefits of pandemic telework as a working mom in the defense world.

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.


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

Iran’s Strategic Crossroads: Options Beyond the Axis?

Events of 2023-2024, culminating with the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, have brought Iran’s regional strategy—a triad of ballistic missile capabilities, nuclear latency, and a decentralized network of regional armed partners—to a moment of



Strategic Insights | July 1, 2025

The Orb’s Eye: Seeing the National Security Implications of Iris Based ‘...

As recently reported in the cover story of Time[JG1] magazine, the launch of The Orb—a beach‑ball‑sized biometric device developed by Tools for Humanity (co‑founded by Sam Altman)—marks a paradigmatic shift in digital identity and biosecurity

Strategic Insights | June 24, 2025

Brain Scanning: Assessing Emigration of U.S. Scientific Talent to Survei...

Intensifying global competition in science and technology (S/T), particularly in fields with considerable disruptive potential - such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, synthetic biology, and neurotechnology—has become a defining