Explore the vast range of titles available.

Quantum technology is an emergent and potentially disruptive discipline, with the ability to affect many human activities. Quantum technologies are dual-use technologies, and as such are of interest to the defence and security industry and military and governmental actors. This report reviews and maps the possible quantum technology military applications, serving as an entry point for international peace and security assessment, ethics research, military and governmental policy, strategy and decision making. Quantum technologies for military applications introduce new capabilities, improving effectiveness and increasing precision, thus leading to ‘quantum warfare’, wherein new military strategies, doctrines, policies and ethics should be established. This report provides a basic overview of quantum technologies under development, also estimating the expected time scale of delivery or the utilisation impact. Particular military applications of quantum technology are described for various warfare domains (e.g. land, air, space, electronic, cyber and underwater warfare and ISTAR—intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance), and related issues and challenges are articulated.

In the past decade, international actors have launched “brain projects” or “brain initiatives.” One of the emerging technologies enabled by these publicly funded programs is brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which are devices that allow communication between the brain and external devices like a prosthetic arm or a keyboard. BCIs are poised to have significant impacts on public health, society, and national security. This research presents the first analytical framework that attempts to predict the dissemination of neurotechnologies to both the commercial and military sectors in the United States and China. While China started its project later with less funding, we find that it has other advantages that make earlier adoption more likely. We also articulate national security risks implicit in later adoption, including the inability to set international ethical and legal norms for BCI use, especially in wartime operating environments, and data privacy risks for citizens who use technology developed by foreign actors.

Quantum technologies are rapidly emerging as a strategic priority for global political powers. Yet little is known about how policymakers across countries perceive the security implications of quantum technologies, even though such perceptions shape policy priorities and public understanding of technological threats. Drawing on securitization theory, we analyze parliamentary speeches from 2010 to 2024 across Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union, and Singapore. Using computational social science tools, including a novel method based on large language models to quantify security emphasis, we report on three principal findings. First, attention and security framing vary markedly across legislatures, with the United States showing the highest intensity, the United Kingdom a moderate pattern, and Australia comparatively muted security rhetoric despite frequent discussion. Second, security emphasis rises over time in every parliament studied. Third, highly securitized debates cluster around the topics of transitions to quantum-secure communication infrastructures, great-power competition and alliances (including AUKUS), and the regulation of cross-border capital, knowledge, and technology flows. The study contributes cross-national, longitudinal evidence on how quantum technologies are politicized.

In the past decade, international actors have launched “brain projects” or “brain initiatives.” One of the emerging technologies enabled by these publicly funded programs is brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which are devices that allow communication between the brain and external devices like a prosthetic arm or a keyboard. BCIs are poised to have significant impacts on public health, society, and national security. This research presents the first analytical framework that attempts to predict the dissemination of neurotechnologies to both the commercial and military sectors in the United States and China. While China started its project later with less funding, we find that it has other advantages that make earlier adoption more likely. We also articulate national security risks implicit in later adoption, including the inability to set international ethical and legal norms for BCI use, especially in wartime operating environments, and data privacy risks for citizens who use technology developed by foreign actors.

The development of quantum technologies has been labelled the next revolution in human scientific and industrial endeavour. Because quantum technologies have potential military, defence, intelligence and law enforcement applications, there has been a great deal written about quantum as a dual-use technology; however, most of the research on quantum technologies is performed in higher education environments that lack robust security cultures. This theoretical paper generates a basic overview of the impact that quantum technologies are having, and could have, on how technologies are secured in university and higher education settings (“research security”). This paper then analyses the implications of quantum technology from the perspective of research security, arguing that a new paradigm is needed that moves beyond the dual-use binary. Specific applications of quantum technology are used as examples of challenges to the definitions and explanations of dual-use, and several alternatives are proposed and summarised.

IntroductionIn 2002, the chemical synthesis of poliovirus demonstrated the dual-use nature of gene synthesis technologies, and private entities initiated the steps towards preventing their misuse. Over the past several decades, nucleic acid sequence and customer screening practices in the United States have emerged from a progression of reactive steps taken by the federal government and private entities.MethodsThis review covers the evolution of nucleic acid synthesis screening guidelines, practices, and potential funding or regulatory requirements in the United States.ResultsIn the mid-2000s, private entities developed screening software for voluntary use by gene synthesis companies. Policy analyses subsequently recommended the establishment and use of uniform screening guidelines, and gene vendors formed consortia that acquired or developed screening software. Government guidance on this topic was first released in 2010 and was issued as a voluntary “best practice.” These were codified by the industry as standards, which were updated in 2017. The government revised and finalized their voluntary guidance in 2023, which was enacted, in Executive Order EO 14110, as funding requirements mandating screening. These were countermanded by Executive Order 14,292 in mid-2025, leaving the path forward for gene synthesis screening uncertain.DiscussionGiven statutory and regulatory landscapes outlined herein, we discuss the current and potential future state of nucleic acid screening policy.

Recent years have seen a number of challenges to social stability and order, ranging from terrorist attacks and natural disasters to epidemics such as AIDS and SARS. Such challenges have generated specific policy responses, such as enhanced security at transportation hubs and planned deployment of a global tsunami detection network. However, the range of challenges and the practical impossibility of adequately addressing each in turn argue for adoption of a more comprehensive systems perspective. This should be based on the principle of enhancing social and economic resiliency as well as meeting security and emergency response needs and, to the extent possible, developing and implementing dual-use technologies that offer societal benefits even if anticipated disasters never occur.

Climate security challenges require coordinated, rapid responses across civilian and military sectors to enhance readiness and foster resilience. A scenario-based analysis of dual-use technologies supports strengthened civil-military collaboration to address simultaneous climate security crises. Real-world events are drawn upon to create a scenario that illustrates the concept of converging crises, which are cross-domain, dual-use, and co-occurring incidents that challenge traditional rapid response frameworks. AI-powered tools and uncrewed systems may help organizations make better decisions by coordinating and learning through case study-based training on contingency crises, such as those involving wildfires and the Arctic. Scenario-based planning helps identify problems with governance and coordination in simulated environments, thereby supporting readiness to build critical climate security scenarios and rapid response measures.