Aug. 12, 2021

Biotech to the Future

Listen as CSWMD's Dr. Diane DiEuliis and Austin Walne, Partner at ARTIS Ventures, speak to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Tech Unmanned podcast about emerging biotechnologies. The views expressed in the podcast are those of the individual and not the organization.

July 28, 2021

“Designer Biology” and the Need for Biosecurity-by-Design

CSWMD's Dr. Diane DiEuliis and Dr. James Giordano, Departments of Neurology and Biochemistry and Cyber-SMART Center, Georgetown University are featured in the latest issue of CBRNe Society's NCT Magazine.

July 20, 2021

Sensor Wars: The Quantum Menace

Listen as CSWMD's Sarah Jacobs Gamberini and Dr. Robert (Bob) Wyllie, Senior Research Scientist and the Chief of the Quantum Systems Division at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, speak to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Tech Unmanned podcast about quantum sensors. The views expressed in the podcast are those of the individual and not the organization.

June 24, 2021

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

Dr. Jaclyn Kerr's article is the final installment 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.

June 23, 2021

Cyber Threats and Weapons of Mass Destruction

For two decades, U.S. policymakers, military leaders, and analysts have drawn connections between cyber threats and WMD that demand attention from experts who work in both fields. While recognizing there are a variety of definitions for WMD in use today, the WMD Center does not believe classifying cyber threats as WMD is warranted or advantageous for the United States at this time.

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 11, 2021

(Dis)trust and verify?: 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 which is to contribute to a discussion about how disinformation could play a role in future arms control treaties and agreements.

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.

March 11, 2021

Want to Grow the Economy? Try Fermenting It Instead

U.S. industry’s distribution system and supply chains were vulnerable before COVID, but pandemic-related disruptions to supply chains fully exposed this already alarming problem. U.S. manufacturers have relied too heavily on foreign materials for production, and the steady off-shoring of critical industries over a course of decades has reduced direct control of vital defense-related manufacturing should it be needed.

Feb. 1, 2021

The Future of Weapons of Mass Destruction: An Update

In an update to their 2014 paper on the future of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), John P. Caves, Jr., and W. Seth Carus assess and offer policy considerations on the significant geopolitical and technological developments shaping the future of WMD since 2014.

Dec. 9, 2020

The biosecurity benefits of genetic engineering attribution

In a recent volume of Nature Communications, Dr. Gerald Epstein and colleagues examine the biosecurity benefits of genetic engineering attribution. This paper is a policy companion piece to a technical paper, published in the same issue, announcing new results in using machine learning to recognize the source of a genetically engineered DNA.

Dec. 1, 2020

The rise of the futurists: The perils of predicting with futurethink

In this paper, Dr. Alexander H. Montgomery and Dr. Amy J. Nelson explore probabilistic and possibilistic approaches to uncertainty related to AI, outline their potential advantages and disadvantages, and identify common biases that hinder good prediction.

Nov. 19, 2020

Social Media Weaponization: The Biohazard of Russian Disinformation Campaigns

In the latest edition of Joint Force Quarterly, Ms. Sarah Jacobs Gamberini describes the methods and goals of Russia’s influence operations, assesses the implications for targeting matters of public health, and provides whole-of-society recommendations for countering its influence.

Nov. 10, 2020

Security Implications of Emerging Biotechnologies

June 2016 — On April 26th, 2016, the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction (CSWMD) at National Defense University held a workshop to explore “Security Implications of Emerging Biotechnologies.” Participants from government, NGOs and academia discussed opportunities and challenges of a new era of biotechnology.

Strategic Assessment 2020: Into a New Era of Great Power Competition Oct. 26, 2020

Contemporary Great Power Technological Competitive Factors in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

In the latest Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) Strategic Assessment, Dr. T.X. Hammes and Dr. Diane DiEuliis explore how the convergence of new technologies is creating a fourth industrial revolution that will transform almost every aspect of 21st-century life.

Sept. 4, 2020

Book Review: Terror and Technology from Dynamite to Drones

T.X. Hammes reviews Power to the People: How Open Technological Innovation is Arming Tomorrow's Terrorists by Audrey Kurth Cronin at War on the Rocks.

July 29, 2020

Inevitable bedfellows? Cooperation on military technology for the development of UAVs and cruise missiles in the Asia-Pacific

Will states in the Asia-Pacific develop real capabilities to deter Chinese aggression? In this discussion paper – published as part of the Missile Dialogue Initiative research programme – Dr Amy J. Nelson and Dr T. X. Hammes examine the increased likelihood that UAV and cruise-missile technologies will proliferate throughout the Asia-Pacific.

July 10, 2020

Innovation and Its Discontents: National Models of Military Innovation and the Dual-Use Conundrum

Dr. Amy J. Nelson's Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) Report explores variations in national models of innovation, as well as the pathways or levers those models afford in controlling innovation’s end product with a focus on dual-use technologies. The report uses case studies of both U.S. and German investment in artificial intelligence and additive manufacturing to highlight national approaches to innovation.

Jan. 22, 2020

Redefining Neuroweapons: Emerging Capabilities in Neuroscience and Neurotechnology

As global conflicts assume increasingly asymmetric and “gray zone” forms, the ability to employ current and newly developing techniques and tools of neurocognitive science to manipulate human thought and behavior must be viewed as a present and increasing challenge. DeFranco, DiEuliis, and Giordano examine how developments in neuroscience and technology (neuroS/T) make the brain sciences of growing value for operational use in warfare, intelligence, and national security…

Dec. 2, 2019

Synthetic Biology Industry Practices and Opportunities for Biosecurity and Potential Roles for the U.S. Government

This report summarizes discussions with industry representatives about the current and future structure of the synthetic biology industry, perspectives on potential misuse and vulnerabilities of synthetic biology tools and capabilities, and business practices to prevent misuse of tools and to protect industry assets.

Aug. 22, 2019

Biospecimens and the Information Landscape for Biodefense

As genomic sequencing and synthesis tools continue to grow, the genomic information associated with biospecimens is expanding rapidly; the convergence of the physical and digital worlds has yet unexamined impacts to our traditional biodefense frameworks.

May 22, 2019

Honey, I Shrunk the Lab: Emerging Microfluidics Technology and its Implications for Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear Weapons

Emerging microfluidics technology has significant extant and potential implications for chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons threats. In E&C Research Paper no. 5, Cyrus Jabbari and Philipp Bleek argue that policymakers concerned about CBRN threats have an opportunity to get ahead of, or at least less behind, some of these developments.

Oct. 25, 2018

WMD in the Digital Age: Understanding the Impact of Emerging Technologies

In E&C Research Paper no. 4, Dr. Bajema explores three broad trends associated with emerging technologies that are fundamentally altering the WMD context, changing the threat space, and undermining the traditional tool box for countering WMD: digitization, convergence, and democratization.

July 9, 2018

The Digitization of Biology: Understanding the New Risks and Implications for Governance

In research paper no. 3, Dr. Natasha Bajema, Dr. Diane DiEuliis, Mr. Charles Lutes and Mr. Yong-Bee Lim explore the implications of the digitization of biology, identify new risks and challenges for governance.

April 9, 2018

The Age of Commercial Drones: Implications for National Security and Weapons of Mass Destruction

In Emergence and Convergence research paper no. 1, Mr. Kenneth Turner explores the rise of commercial drones and its implications for CWMD.

April 9, 2018

The Future of Defense Innovation: Removing the Silos between the Warfighters and Innovators

Dr. Natasha Bajema explores the challenges of defense innovation under the current defense acquisition system.

April 4, 2018

Emergence and Convergence: Risk Assessment Survey

Fort Lesley J McNair — In its multi-year study entitled Emergence and Convergence, the WMD Center is exploring the risks, opportunities, and governance challenges for countering WMD introduced by a diverse range of emerging technologies.

April 4, 2018

Biodata Risks and Synthetic Biology: A Critical Juncture

Intrinsic to growing ability to apply classical engineering to biological systems is the mounting ‘digitization of biology’, as the genetic code and its related metadata (including translated proteins, associated functions, herein referred to as “biodata”) are amassed in order to engineer biology for specific purposes. There are three unique risks categories associated with the digitization of biology: 1) pathogen risks; 2) manufacturing risks, and 3) risks to individual privacy that can allow human harms.

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.

May 12, 2017

Peril and Promise: Emerging Technologies and WMD

Emerging technologies are transforming life, industry, and the global economy in positive ways, but they also have significant potential for subversion by states and nonstate actors. National security experts, lawmakers, and policymakers have become increasingly concerned about the interactions among a number of emerging technologies that could alter and increase the threats from weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

June 1, 2014

The Future of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Their Nature and Role in 2030

The longstanding efforts of the international community writ large to exclude weapons of mass destruction (WMD) from international competition and conflict could be undermined in 2030. The proliferation of these weapons is likely to be harder to prevent and thus potentially more prevalent. Nuclear weapons are likely to play a more significant role