Strategic Insights

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  Decision-Based Artificial Intelligence and the Strategic Reordering of Military Power

  Elise Annett

  This Strategic Insights article explores how decision-based artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how military decisions are generated, exercised, and contested. It analyzes how AI systems, especially those embedded across command and control constructs like Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), act as constitutive elements in operational and strategic decision-making by filtering information, prioritizing options, and compressing analysis timelines. The piece highlights strategic and organizational implications, including altered authority structures, the need for robust AI governance and doctrine, and emerging vulnerabilities tied to data integrity and algorithmic influence. It concludes with policy recommendations to codify AI’s role in doctrine, align ethical accountability with command authority, and integrate AI considerations into military education and planning.

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  Artificial Intelligence and a Reconfiguration of Military Power

  Elise Annett and James Giordano

  This Strategic Insights article examines how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping military power by altering how decisions are made, how forces are structured, and how competitive advantages are pursued across strategic domains. It analyzes the ways AI systems influence command and control, operational tempo, and information dominance, and considers how these capabilities may reconfigure military hierarchies and strategic competition. The article highlights organizational, doctrinal, and governance challenges posed by AI integration, as well as policy implications for defense planners seeking to balance technological adoption with ethical, legal, and security considerations. By situating AI within broader defense innovation and strategic competition trends, the piece provides insight into emerging military power dynamics in the 21st century.

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  Cognitive Warfare 2026: NATO’s Chief Scientist Report as Sentinel Call for Operational Readiness

  James Giordano

  This Strategic Insights article examines NATO’s Chief Scientist’s Cognitive Warfare 2026 report as a sentinel warning for allied governments and defense institutions. It analyzes how cognitive warfare—targeting perception, decision-making, and societal cohesion—has emerged as a core domain of competition in the contemporary security environment. The article outlines the report’s key findings, including the weaponization of information ecosystems, advances in artificial intelligence and neurotechnology, and the blurring of civil-military boundaries. It argues that cognitive warfare demands a whole-of-society response, integrating defense, technological innovation, resilience-building, and ethical safeguards. By framing cognitive operations as both an operational and strategic challenge, the article calls for enhanced preparedness, interagency coordination, and doctrinal adaptation to ensure NATO and its partners remain resilient in an era where influence over minds is as consequential as control over territory.

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  Quantum Technologies, Part One: Focusing a Bit upon Realities Part One: Capabilities and Constraints

  James Giordano

  This Strategic Insights article provides a grounded assessment of quantum technologies and their potential impacts on national security and defense. Moving beyond hype and speculation, it examines the real capabilities and current limitations of quantum computing, sensing, and communications, and demystifies exaggerated expectations about near‑term military applications. The piece highlights key challenges in hardware development, uncertainty in deployment timelines, and practical considerations for defense planners. It discusses how emerging quantum capabilities might influence cryptography, force posture, and readiness without succumbing to “quantum mythology,” and outlines policy approaches to ensure that quantum advances are understood realistically and integrated intelligently into broader national security strategies.

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  Quantum Technologies, Part Two: Recognizing Risks and Threats to National Security and Defense

  James Giordano

  This Strategic Insights article assesses the spectrum of risks and threats that quantum technologies pose to national security and defense. It explores near-, intermediate-, and long-term hazards associated with quantum computing, sensing, and communications—including strategic surprise in niche applications, a cryptographic transition gap, and long-term disruptions in cryptography, optimization, and simulation that may affect weapon design cycles and strategic stability. The piece also identifies biological domain risks arising from quantum-enabled molecular discovery, quantum sensing, and data security, and offers policy recommendations for realistic defense postures, governance, doctrine, and supply chain security to ensure preparedness without succumbing to quantum mythology.

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  Fortifying Technologic Innovation in National Defense: Strategic Security Imperatives for Research and Acquisition

  James Giordano and Diane DiEuliis

  This Strategic Insights article analyzes recent efforts to fortify technologic innovation in national defense by strengthening research security and acquisition policies. It highlights how newly announced research security initiatives aim to protect the U.S. innovation enterprise within the defense industrial base (DIB) from exploitation, foreign influence, and intellectual‑property loss while preserving scientific collaboration that drives technological progress. The authors argue that security‑by‑design should be integrated at all phases of technology development to anticipate risks and sustain competitive leadership in critical emerging technologies such as AI, autonomous systems, biotechnology, and quantum science. The article outlines strategic imperatives for continuous risk assessment, enhanced governance, workforce readiness, and whole‑of‑nation collaboration to maintain U.S. advantage in global technology competition.