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.
Jan. 13, 2026
Fortifying Technologic Innovation in National Defense: Strategic Security Imperatives for Research and Acquisition
The recently announced Fundamental Research Security Initiatives and Implementation Memorandum, intended to strengthen protections for Department of War (DoW)-funded research, represents a crucial evolution in how the United States (U.S.) secures innovation enterprise within the defense industrial base (DIB). This initiative affirms that security and innovation are equal, co-foundational components of national defense and activities of the DIB.
Jan. 8, 2026
Re-constructing and Construing the Warfighter: The Intersection of Bioengineering and Identity in Neurotechnologically Enhanced Military Personnel
Current joint warfighters are no longer merely trained — in many ways, they are increasingly bioengineered.
Jan. 7, 2026
China’s Use of Force on Taiwan: Impact on PLA Capabilities
The US Department of Defense assesses that China has the capability to execute a blockade or punitive missile strike against Taiwan.
Jan. 6, 2026
Cognitive Warfare 2026: NATO’s Chief Scientist Report as Sentinel Call for Operational Readiness
The recently released NATO Chief Scientist’s 2025 Report on Cognitive Warfare provides a timely acknowledgment of a strategic reality that contemporary conflict is increasingly behavior-centric, and the decisive terrain is often not geographic but how individuals and groups perceive, interpret, decide, and act.
Dec. 22, 2025
What Would OPCON Transfer Mean for the UN Command in Korea?
Considered by some as an artifact of the Cold War, the United Nations Command (UNC) continues to serve several critical roles, from maintaining the armistice agreement to coordinating multinational support for the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
Ukraine, the U.S. Defense Industrial Base, and the Elusive Crisis-Era Munitions Production Surge
A growing chorus of U.S. defense analysts, lawmakers, and military officials has emphasized that the United States lacks the munitions production capacity to meet the demands of the contemporary strategic environment.
Biotechnologies and the Treaty Gap: Why Biological Weapons Governance Is Falling Behind; and Some Thoughts on How to Fix It
The Scottish ballad Auld Lang Syne, written in 1788 by poet Robert Burns is a tune traditionally played to ring out the passing year and herald in the new. The lyrics offer an invitation to celebrate that which was good, and toast to what may come.
Dec. 17, 2025
Biotechnology in the FY 2026 NDAA: Strategic Implications — and Recommendations — for Joint Force Readiness
The newly released FY 26 NDAA places explicit emphasis upon the increasing involvement of biotechnology in US military missions. As 2025 comes to a close, and we look ahead to the new year, Dr. James Giordano, Director of the CDTFW, offers a view to why biotechnology is — and will be ever more — intrinsic and important to national defense and offers a set of recommendations for fortifying Joint Force engagement in the biotechnological domain.
Dec. 16, 2025
The Imperial Trap: Russia’s War in Ukraine and the Lessons of Failed Conquests
Since the release of the U.S. 28-point draft peace plan in late November, many officials and observers have suggested that a ceasefire in Ukraine may be on the horizon.
Dr. Tom Lynch Contributes U.S. Chapter to The Palgrave Geopolitical Atlas
"Chapter 2: United States" in The Palgrave Geopolitical Atlas: State and Quasi-State Actors in Great Power Competition is part of a comprehensive 54-chapter edited book that examines global state and quasi-state interactions in the new era of Great Power Competition.