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The Institute for National Strategic Studies serves as a focal point for analysis of critical national security policy and defense strategy issues.

 
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Dec. 19, 2024

Taking Stock of the Islamic State

What are U.S. strategic interests in Syria?

Dec. 2, 2024

China’s Quest for Military Supremacy to be published in March 2025

China's Quest for Military Supremacy by Joel Wuthnow and Phillip Saunders is set to be published on 18 March 2025.

Nov. 26, 2024

Confronting Irregular Warfare in the South China Sea: Lessons Learned from Vietnam

"Confronting Irregular Warfare in the South China Sea" was released by the U.S. Army professional journal, Military Review. This short article by Dr. Kim Cragin, examines irregular warfare activities of the Chinese maritime militia and Vietnam's response, drawing lessons learned for the U.S. military.

Oct. 22, 2024

The Role of America’s European Allies in the Russia-Ukraine War, 2022–24

In this monograph, Lisa A. Aronsson and John R. Deni assess whether US allies and partners in Europe can continue providing military assistance to Ukraine or expand assistance, while preserving their own national security and fulfilling their NATO commitments.

Oct. 22, 2024

Book Chapter: The Rising Dominance of the Tactical Defense?

Read the chapter titled "The Rising Dominance of the Tactical Defense?" by T.X. Hammes in Beyond Ukraine: Debating the Future of War, which examines whether land warfare is once again entering a period of defense dominance.

Oct. 22, 2024

Game-changers: Implications of the Russo-Ukraine war for the future of ground warfare

On 3 April 2023, T.X. Hammes published an article in the Atlantic Council titled "Game-changers: Implications of the Russo-Ukraine war for the future of ground warfare."

Oct. 10, 2024

Cyberspace: Great Power Competition in a Fragmenting Domain

This article explains how the cyber domain today largely replicates the patterns of devolution and fragmentation observed in the electromagnetic spectrum (EM) and aviation domains more than a century ago.

Oct. 7, 2024

Thirty Years of the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction

NDU’s Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction (CSWMD), part of the Institute for National Strategic Studies, has been a trusted resource on WMD challenges to senior Defense and other interagency policy leaders for 30 years.

Oct. 2, 2024

More Red but Still Expert: Party-Army Relations Under Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping has encouraged the People’s Liberation Army to be able to "fight and win wars" while remaining "absolutely loyal" to the Chinese Communist Party.

Oct. 1, 2024

The War in Ukraine and Russia’s Quest to Reshape the World Order

Moscow is actively using the conflict in Ukraine to advance its vision of a different international order.


Strategic Insights | Sept. 24, 2025

Beyond Mechanistic Control: Causal Decision Processing in Neuromorphic M...

Recently, a paper by Kevin Mitchell and Henry Potter in the European Journal of Neuroscience provided a valuable overview of current understanding of causation in neurocognitive processing, which has interesting implications for military applications

Strategic Insights | Sept. 17, 2025

Autonomous Artificial Intelligence in Armed Conflict: Toward a Model of ...

Artificially intelligent systems are being developed to have iteratively autonomous function, and these systems are increasingly being considered for use in military settings, weapon platforms, and operations.

INSS Around the Web | Sept. 15, 2025

The Greatest Danger in the Taiwan Strait

Dr. Joel Wuthnow writes a piece for Foreign Affairs on how a war between China and Taiwan could result from an accident or miscalculation that spirals out of control.


INSS Around the Web | Sept. 9, 2025

Expendable Drones: Appreciating the Evolving Technology – and Character ...

This publication address the expanding weaponized capabilities — and threats — of unmanned vehicular systems when coupled to iterative forms of artificial intelligence.

Strategic Insights | Sept. 8, 2025

Tiny Particles, Big Stakes: The Strategic Implications of Micro‑ and Nan...

During World War II, plastic production was ramped up to meet demands from the defense industry. In the post-war consumer culture, using technological innovations and advanced synthesis methods to create and manipulate isomers, synthetic polymers

INSS Around the Web | Sept. 4, 2025

Evaluating Anomalous Health Incidents of the Havana Syndrome: The Case f...

Dr. Giordano writes his latest publication for EC Neurology that explicates the need, and calls for the development of a systematic questionnaire to assess the symptoms of patients with anomalous health incidents (AHI) of the Havana Syndrome.

Strategic Insights | Sept. 3, 2025

Disruptive Technologies in Current and Future Warfare: Definition and De...

This week, the Center for Disruptive Technology and Future Warfare (DTFW) of the Institute for National Strategic Studies is presenting its first major conference, addressing DTFW at large, and in-depth. In the spirit of this conference, I believe it