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 War stakeholders.
Oct. 3, 2017
Options for Synthetic DNA Order Screening, Revisited
DNA synthesis is a valuable research tool in the design of new biological products for medicine and manufacturing, and the ability to chemically synthesize long tracts of DNA has allowed for the development of influenza vaccines and diagnostic tests.
Sept. 27, 2017
Chinese Perspectives on the Belt and Road Initiative: Strategic Rationales, Risks, and Implications
Chinese officials have downplayed the security dimensions of Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy initiative—the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). However, Chinese strategists have extensively analyzed three major issues: strategic benefits the BRI can provide for China, key security risks and challenges, and ways to reduce those risks. This study surveys their views and comments on implications for U.S. strategy.
Sept. 6, 2017
A Failure of Strategic Vision: U.S. Policy and the Doklam Border Dispute
On Monday, August 28th, China and India announced a de-escalation of their two month old confrontation along the tri-border area with Bhutan near Doklam. Beijing and New Delhi made this announcement about a week in advance of Prime Minister Modi’s simultaneously-announced intent to visit to China from September 3-5 for the annual BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) Summit.
Aug. 30, 2017
North Korean Collapse: Weapons of Mass Destruction Use and Proliferation Challenges
38 North — Among all the challenges associated with a North Korean collapse, the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or movement of WMD out of the country will have the largest strategic implications.
Aug. 29, 2017
Exploring the Requirements of Integrated Strategic Deterrence
The workshop sought to gain a deeper understanding of how a more integrated approach to capabilities, operational concepts and plans could deliver a stronger deterrence posture to meet the challenges posed by advanced nuclear-armed adversaries in future regional crisis and conflict.
Aug. 14, 2017
The Pentagon’s Pivot: How Lead Users Are Transforming Defense Product Development
Historically, the Department of Defense (DOD) has relied on strategic forecasting to determine specifications for new military products. These specifications are codified in formal product requirements that drive new product development (NPD).
China’s Russia Problem on North Korea
The Trump Administration has hailed a recent 15-0 UN Security Council vote imposing new sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a diplomatic victory. The sanctions include a complete ban on coal, iron, and lead exports, a major source of foreign currency for Pyongyang. Success will depend on how effectively China, as North Korea’s predominant trading partner, enforces the new sanctions. In deciding how vigorously to implement them, Beijing will have to weigh multiple competing factors, including assessments of North Korea’s reaction, Chinese public expectations, and the possibility of additional U.S. secondary sanctions on Chinese firms. A less obvious, but potentially crucial, variable in China’s calculus is whether Russia will take advantage of a curtailed Sino-DPRK economic relationship to build its own influence in North Korea.
Aug. 8, 2017
Asia and the Trump Administration: Challenges, Opportunities, and a Road Ahead
The Asia-Pacific region is of exponentially increasing importance to the United States. Developments there affect vital U.S. economic, security, and political interests. Unfettered access to the region is a strategic imperative to allow the United States to protect and advance its wide-ranging national interests.
Aug. 7, 2017
A Short History of Biological Warfare: From Pre-History to the 21st Century
This short monograph reviews the history of biological warfare (BW) from prehistory to the present. It covers what we know about the practice of BW and briefly describes the programs that developed BW weapons based on the best available research.