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.
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).
Feb. 25, 2026
The Danger in the Middle: Will Xi’s Purges Increase the Risk of War?
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has purged dozens of senior People’s Liberation Army officers since mid-2023, including two in January, but will this increase the risk of war?
Feb. 4, 2026
America risks a nuclear-arms race with China
On 3 February, INSS China Center Director Dr. Phillip Saunders was quoted in The Economist in the story, “America risks a nuclear-arms race with China."
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.
Sept. 23, 2024
China's Theater-Range, Dual-Capable Delivery Systems: Integrated Deterrence and Risk Reduction Approaches to Counter a Growing Threat
China has engaged in a dramatic buildup of its nuclear forces over the past decade. While much of the attention on China’s new nuclear arsenal has focused on its development and expansion of its strategic nuclear triad, this growth has also included significant numbers of theater-range, dual-capable delivery systems. These forces are not capable of reaching the U.S. mainland but can range U.S. and allied forces and bases across strategically significant swathes of the Indo-Pacific.
Sept. 29, 2023
Agile and Adaptable: U.S. and NATO Approaches to Russia's Short-Term Military Potential
Russia’s war in Ukraine has triggered the worst security crisis facing Europe since the end of the Cold War. It brought a major conventional war of aggression to the European continent and enormous human suffering, but in doing so it has also unified and reenergized the NATO alliance and accelerated efforts to reconstitute transatlantic defense and deterrence.
China's Expanding Nuclear Capabilities: A Conversation with David Logan and Phil Saunders
June 21, 2022
Russia's Cold War Perspective on Missile Defense in Europe
In this article, John P. Caves, Jr. and M. Elaine Bunn look at how Russia's opposition to the U.S. proposal to locate missile defense assets in Central Europe is primarily responsible for the controversy currently surrounding this initiative within Europe. They further look into how should Russia's objections be interpreted and what should be done about them?
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.
Sept. 16, 2021
A Weapon of Mass Destruction Strategy for the 21st Century
In a recent article in War on the Rocks, CSWMD Expert Consultant, Dr. Seth Carus, and colleagues explore how the U.S. government should, through the National Security Council, formulate a unified strategy that addresses the changing character of, and challenges posed by, WMD. That strategy should align current and future national security capabilities in order to prevent the proliferation of such weapons and discourage adversaries from using them to harm the United States, allied nations, and broader American national security interests.