Margaret E. Kosal
Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies
- Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
- Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy
- ADVANCE IAC
Overview
Margaret E. Kosal’s research explores the relationships among technology, strategy, and governance. Her research focuses on two, often intersecting, areas: reducing the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and understanding the role of emerging technologies for security.
Her work aims to understand and explain the role of technology and technological diffusion for national security at strategic and operational levels. In the changing post-Cold War environment, the most advanced military power no longer guarantees national or international security in a globalized world in which an increasing number of nation-states and non-state actors have access to new and potentially devastating dual-use capabilities. The long-term goals of her work are to understand the underlying drivers of technological innovation and how technology affects national security and modern warfare. She is interested in both the scholarly, theoretical level discourse and in the development of new strategic approaches and executable policy options to enable US dominance and to limit the proliferation of unconventional weapons.
On the question of understanding the impact of emerging technology on national and international security her research considers what role will nanotechnology, cognitive science, biotechnology, and converging sciences have on states, non-state actors, balance of power, deterrence postures, security doctrines, nonproliferation regimes, and programmatic choices. Through examination of these real applications on the science (benign and defensive) and potential (notional) offensive uses of nanotechnology, she seeks to develop a model to probe the security implications of this emerging technology. The goal of the research is not to predict new specific technologies but to develop a robust analytical framework for assessing the impact of new technology on national and international security and identifying policy measures to prevent or slow proliferation of new technology - the next generation “WMD” - for malfeasant intentions.
Kosal is the author of numerous publications, including Nanotechnology for Chemical and Biological Defense (Springer Academic Publishers, 2009), which explores scenarios and strategies regarding the benefits and potential proliferation threats of nanotechnology and other emerging sciences for international security; editor of the volume, Technology and the Intelligence Community: Challenges and Advances for the 21st Century Springer, 2018); and editor and contributor to the volumes Disruptive and Game Changing Technologies in Modern Warfare: Development, Use, and Proliferation (Springer, 2019), which was recognized by NATO as a Top Book of 2021, and Weapons Technology Proliferation: Diplomatic, Information, Military, Economic Approaches to Technological Proliferation (Springer, 2021).
During AY 2016-2017, she served as a Senior Adjunct Scholar to the Modern War Institute at West Point. From 2012-2013, she as a senior advisor to the Chief of Staff of the US Army as part of his inaugural Strategic Studies Group (SSG). Before joining the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, she was Science and Technology Advisor within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Kosal also served as the first liaison to the Biological and Chemical Defense Directorate at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). She has been recognized for her leadership across the U.S. federal government, specifically for efforts to coordinate across the DoD as part of the interagency Nonproliferation and Arms Control Technology Working Group, reporting to the National Security Council (NSC), and as member of the interagency federal group charged with leading the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). Kosal was nominated to and led the U.S. involvement in the NATO Nanotechnology for Defense Working Group. More recently, she was appointed Vice Chair of the US National Academies Committee on Assessing and Improving Strategies for Preventing, Countering, and Responding to Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism: Chemical Threats and Study Member on the Committee tasked with assessing Biological Threats.
Her awards include the 2015 CETL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, 2014 Georgia Tech Junior Faculty Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, 2012 Ivan Allen Jr Legacy Award, 2010 INTAGO Faculty Award, CETL Class of 1969 Teaching Scholar, the OSD Award for Excellence, 2007 UIUC Alumni Association Recent Alumni Award, the President’s Volunteer Service Award, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Defense Policy Fellow, and the Society of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines Dissertation Research Award. Currently, she serves on the editorial board of the scholarly journals the Journal of Strategic Security, the Journal of Defense Management, and Global Security: Health Science and Policy. In January 2017, Kosal was appointed the Editor-in-Chief of the Cambridge University Press journal, Politics and the Life Sciences.
- Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- B.S., Chemistry, University of Southern California
Distinctions:
- Senior Adjunct Scholar to the Modern War Institute at the U.S. Military
- 2015-2016 CETL Class of 1969 Teaching Scholar
- 2015 CETL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award
- Gold Star Award in Recognition of the Highest Level of Accomplishment in Research, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
- Dean Griffith Teaching Recognition – “Thank a Teacher” Award
- 2014 Georgia Tech Junior Faculty Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award
- Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Faculty Award, 2012
- INTAGO Faculty of the Year, 2010
- Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence, 2007
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Recent Alumni Award, 2007
- President’s Volunteer Service Award, 2007
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Fellowship, 2005-2007
- American Chemical Society’s Chemical and Engineering News Top 2002 Supramolecular Chemistry research paper
- IAC Georgia Power Professor of Excellence, Fall 2017
- Provost’s Emerging Leaders Program, AY 2018-2019
Interests
- Biological and Chemical Nonproliferation and Counterterrorism
- Comparative Politics: Regional Studies
- Cybersecurity
- Emerging Technology and Security
- Global Nuclear Security
- Information Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection
- International Security Policy
- Regional Security Challenges
- Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy
- Science, Technology, and International Policy
- Wicked Problems
Focuses:
- Asia (East)
- Asia (North) / Eurasia
- Asia (South)
- Middle East
- United States
- Weapons and Security
- Armed Conflict
- Bioethics, Bioscience, Biotechnology
- Conflicts
- Diffusion of Technology
- East-Asian Studies
- Emerging Technologies - Innovation
- Espionage
- Foreign Policy
- Governance
- Human/Machine Interaction
- Innovation
- National Security
- National Strategy
- Non-Traditional Security Challenges
- Perspectives on technology
- Science and Engineering Workforces
- Science and Technology
- Strategy
- Technology
- Technology and Innovation
- Terrorism
- Wicked Problems
Courses
- INTA-2040: Sci,Tech & Int'l Affairs
- INTA-2042: Intro-Global WMD Issues
- INTA-2698: Research Assistantship
- INTA-3102: Problem of Proliferation
- INTA-3103: Challenge of Terrorism
- INTA-3111: U.S. Defense Policy
- INTA-4007: Intell & Int'l Security
- INTA-4050: Int'l Affair&Tech Policy
- INTA-4500: INTA Pro-Seminar
- INTA-6111: US Foreign Secur Strat
- INTA-6720: Politics Tech Prolif
- INTA-8000: Sci,Tech&Int'l Affairs I
- INTA-8001: Sci,Tech&Intl Affairs II
- INTA-8813: Global WMD Policy
Publications
Selected Publications
Books
- Disruptive and Game Changing Technologies in Modern Warfare: Development, Use, and Proliferation
Date: 2019
Journal Articles
- Neurotechnology and International Security: Predicting Commercial and Military Adoption of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) in the US and China
In: Politics and the Life Sciences
Date: 2022
- CRISPR & New Genetic Engineering Techniques: Emerging Challenges to Nonproliferation,
In: Nonproliferation Review
Date: 2021
Chapters
- Artificial Intelligence: Unpacking Technical, Political, Rhetorical, and Security Factors
In: Weapons Technology Proliferation: Diplomatic, Information, Military, Economic Approaches to Proliferation
Date: 2021
- Meta-materials: Threat to the Global Status Quo?
In: Disruptive and Game Changing Technologies in Modern Warfare: Development, Use, and Proliferation
Date: 2019
All Publications
Books
- Weapons Technology Proliferation: Diplomatic, Information, Military, Economic Approaches to Technological Proliferation
Date: 2021
- Disruptive and Game Changing Technologies in Modern Warfare: Development, Use, and Proliferation
Date: 2019
- Technology and the Intelligence Community: Challenges and Advances for the 21st Century
Date: 2018
- Nanotechnology for Chemical and Biological Defense
Date: December 2009
The pursuit of the minutely small - nanotechnology - is thriving in academia, in the private sector, and in global state science and technology programs. This work aims to better enable an informed national debate and to affect international dialogue on the role and impact of nanotechnology and emerging science on national defense and homeland security. Combining original research with the findings of an interdisciplinary, defense-oriented workshop, the book explores the current realities and potential for transformational breakthroughs in nanotechnology-based chemical and biological countermeasures, as well as identifies research directions in basic and applied science. Security implications, both for traditional nonproliferation regimes and for misuse by non-state actors are also considered. This ambitious effort serves manifold objectives, including the following: . To give policymakers a strategic roadmap to provide a basis for research direction decisions; . To provide an overview of the current and future challenges, both for military operations and for homeland security applications; . To provide a survey of potential future proliferation and malfeasant co-option of emerging technologies;. To discuss organizational structure and management of chemical and biological defense-related research and nanotechnology-related research at the federal level. To present means to foster revolutionary technology domestically and highlight international needs for future nanotechnology research, cooperation, and security globally.Throughout, the emphasis is on revolutionary rather than evolutionary science and technology. This work intentionally straddles between technical disciplines and social sciences making it truly interdisciplinary. Ideas and work from across the experimental and theoretical physical and life sciences and engineering are included and integrated with insights from the social sciences. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 All rights reserved.
- Nanotechnology for Chemical and Biological Defense
Date: June 2009
Book - Editors
- Weapons Technology Proliferation: Diplomatic, Information, Military, Economic Approaches to Technological Proliferation
Date: August 2021
Journal Articles
- Neurotechnology and International Security: Predicting Commercial and Military Adoption of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) in the US and China
In: Politics and the Life Sciences
Date: 2022
- Assessing Threats of SynBio – Three Challenges
In: NCT Magazine
Date: July 2021
- CRISPR & New Genetic Engineering Techniques: Emerging Challenges to Nonproliferation,
In: Nonproliferation Review
Date: 2021
- CRISPR & New Genetic Engineering Techniques: Emerging Challenges to Strategic Stability and Nonproliferation
In: Nonproliferation Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2021
- Military Deception and Strategic Culture: The Soviet Union and Russian Federation
In: Journal of Information Warfare
Date: 2021
- Military Deception and Strategic Culture: The Soviet Union and Russian Federation
In: Journal of Information Warfare
Date: 2021
- How to Give Counterterrorism a Fighting Chance
In: The National Interest
Date: 2017
- Preventing Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation - Leveraging Special Operations Forces to Shape the Environment
In: Combatting WMD Journal
Date: 2017
- The Strategic Illogic of Counterterrorism Policy
In: The Washington Quarterly [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 2016
- Security Implications and Governance of Cognitive Neuroscience Research: Results from an Ethnographic Survey of Researchers
Date: July 2015
- Security Implications and Governance of Cognitive Neuroscience Research: Results from an Ethnographic Survey of Researchers
Date: July 2015
In recent years, significant efforts have been made toward elucidating the potential of the human brain. Spanning fields as disparate as psychology, biomedicine, computer science, mathematics, electrical engineering, and chemistry, research venturing into the growing domains of cognitive neuroscience and brain research has become fundamentally interdisciplinary. Among the most interesting and consequential applications to international security are the military and defense community’s interests in the potential of cognitive neuroscience findings and technologies. In the United States, multiple governmental agencies are actively pursuing such endeavors, including the Department of Defense, which has invested over $3 billion in the last decade to conduct research on defense-related innovations. This study explores governance and security issues surrounding cognitive neuroscience research with regard to potential security-related applications and reports scientists’ views on the role of researchers in these areas through a survey of over 200 active cognitive neuroscientists.
- Security implications and governance of cognitive neuroscience.
In: Politics Life Sci [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2015
In recent years, significant efforts have been made toward elucidating the potential of the human brain. Spanning fields as disparate as psychology, biomedicine, computer science, mathematics, electrical engineering, and chemistry, research venturing into the growing domains of cognitive neuroscience and brain research has become fundamentally interdisciplinary. Among the most interesting and consequential applications to international security are the military and defense community's interests in the potential of cognitive neuroscience findings and technologies. In the United States, multiple governmental agencies are actively pursuing such endeavors, including the Department of Defense, which has invested over $3 billion in the last decade to conduct research on defense-related innovations. This study explores governance and security issues surrounding cognitive neuroscience research with regard to potential security-related applications and reports scientists' views on the role of researchers in these areas through a survey of over 200 active cognitive neuroscientists. - The War We Won't Expect
Date: June 2014
The War We Won't Expect - A new role for public health in bioterrorism deterrence.
In: Front Public Health [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2014
- Nano-Biotechnology,” (8 pages), Revised and updated chapters on “Anti-Material Agents” (7 pages) and “Biological Simulants,” (4 pages)
In: Encyclopedia of Bioterrorism Defense [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2011
- The security implications of nanotechnology
Date: July 2010
- Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Society
Date: July 2010
Edited by David Guston; Adam N. Stulberg and Margaret E. Kosal have a jointly authored piece on Russia. In addition, Kosal has four other pieces on 1) Department of Defense 2) Security 3) Ethical Issues of Nano-Weapons and 4) Iran;
- The security implications of nanotechnology
In: BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2010
- The Making of a Digital World: The Evolution of Technological Change and How It Shaped Our World
In: INTERNATIONAL STUDIES REVIEW
Date: June 2009
- Kosal aids in grading government on WMD and terror prevention
Date: September 2008
- Bioviolence: Preventing Biological Terror and Crime.
In: REVIEW OF POLICY RESEARCH
Date: September 2008
- The security impact of the neurosciences
Date: June 2008
- Toward a Strategic Vision in Basic Sciences for Chemical and Biological Defense
Date: 2008
- Seeing smells: Development of an optoelectronic nose
In: Quimica Nova [Peer Reviewed]
Date: May 2007
The development of an array of chemically-responsive dyes on a porous membrane and in its use as a general sensor for odors and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is reviewed. These colorimetric sensor arrays (CSA) act as an "optoelectronic nose" by using an array of multiple dyes whose color changes are based on the full range of intermolecular interactions. The CSA is digitally imaged before and after exposure and the resulting difference map provides a digital fingerprint for any VOC or mixture of odorants. The result is an enormous increase in discriminatory power among odorants compared to prior electronic nose technologies. For the detection of biologically important analytes, including amines, carboxylic acids, and thiols, high sensitivities (ppbv) have been demonstrated. The array is essentially non-responsive to changes in humidity due to the hydrophobicity of the dyes and membrane. - Near Term Threats of Chemical Weapons Terrorism”
In: Strategic Insights [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2006
- Terrorism Targeting Industrial Chemical Facilities: Strategic Motivations and the Implications for U.S. Security,
In: Studies in Conflict and Terrorism [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2006
- An Unaddressed Issue of Agricultural Terrorism – A Case Study on Feed Security,
In: Journal of Animal Science [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2004
- A Calcium-Bridged Porphyrin Network
In: J. Porphyrins and Phthalocyanine [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2002
- A Functional Zeolite Analogue Assembled From Metalloporphyrins,
In: Nature Materials [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2002
- Microporous Porphyrin and Metalloporphyrin Materials
In: J. Solid State Chemistry [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2000
- Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscopy (NSOM) of Zinc-Porphyrin Crystals
In: Ultramicroscopy, [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2000
- The Materials Chemistry of Porphyrins and Metalloporphyrins
In: J. Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2000
- Communication and Use of Infectious Disease Transmission Rates for National Terrorism Exercises and Implications for Civilian Biodefense Preparations
In: Biosecurity and Bioterrorism [Peer Reviewed]
- Gap Analysis and Recommendations to Improve Preparedness for a Chemical Attack Involving Organophosphate Compounds
In: Critical Care. [Peer Reviewed]
- Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Pursuit of WMD Terrorism
In: Studies in Conflict and Terrorism [Peer Reviewed]
- Microporous Porphyrin Solids”
In: Accounts of Chemical Research, [Peer Reviewed]
- Security Implications of Cognitive Neuroscience Research
In: Review of Policy Research [Peer Reviewed]
Chapters
- Artificial Intelligence: Unpacking Technical, Political, Rhetorical, and Security Factors
In: Weapons Technology Proliferation: Diplomatic, Information, Military, Economic Approaches to Proliferation
Date: 2021
- The Interplay Between Frugal Science and Chemical and Biological Weapons: Investigating the Proliferation Risks of Technology Intended for Humanitarian, Disaster Response, and International Development Efforts
In: Weapons Technology Proliferation: Diplomatic, Information, Military, Economic Approaches to Proliferation
Date: 2021
- Meta-materials: Threat to the Global Status Quo?
In: Disruptive and Game Changing Technologies in Modern Warfare: Development, Use, and Proliferation
Date: 2019
- Emerging Chemical and Biological Technologies: Security & Policy Challenges
In: The Interface of Chemical and Biological Sciences International Disarmament Efforts, Eds. Dorothy J. Phillips and Lori Brown
Date: 2017
- Ethical Issues Arising from Commercial Brain Training Programs and Big Data Brain Science
In: The Handbook of Neuroethics, Eds. K.S. Rommelfanger and S. Johnson
Date: 2017
- Emerging Chemical and Biological Technologies: Security & Policy Challenges
Date: 2016
- Emerging Science and Technologies: Strategy, Security, and Governance
Date: 2016
- Ethical Issues Arising from Commercial Brain Training Programs and Big Data Brain Science
Date: 2016
- Anticipating the biological proliferation threat of nanotechnology: Challenges for international arms control regimes
Date: August 2013
© 2014 T.M.C. Asser Press and the authors.This chapter explores challenges-both in the technical realm and in international arms control regimes and laws-in the pursuit of nanotechnology as it intersects with the proliferation of biological weapons. Nanotechnology is thriving in academia, in the private sector, and in state science and technology programs. The security implications, both for traditional non-proliferation regimes and for misuse by non-state actors, have not received commensurate attention with other technological advances. At the same time, policy makers and the scientific community, domestically and internationally, are attempting to develop new means to address risks associated with biotechnology, including synthetic genomics. Although the potential threats of nanotechnology research in an age of terrorism or a new age of state-based proliferation may not be as easy to envision in the near term as those associated with biotechnology, the possibilities are becoming more real as nanotechnology is transitioned from the laboratory to products. A number of recent advances in nanotechnology have strongly suggested nanotechnology's malfeasant potential in the hands of adversaries. - Nanotechnology: Towards an Understanding of the Role in Security
Date: 2012
- Nano-Biotechnology
Date: 2011
- Department of Defense; Security; Ethical Issues of Nano-Weapons; and Iran
Date: 2010
- Russia
Date: 2010
- Scenarios for Anticipating Emerging Technology: Nanotechnology for Chemical and Biological Defense 2030 Workshop and Study
Date: August 2008
- Scenarios for Anticipating Emerging Technology: Nanotechnology for Chemical and Biological Defense 2030 Workshop and Study
Date: 2008
- Chemical Terrorism
Date: 2007
- Near Term Threats of Chemical Weapons Terrorism
Date: 2007
- Applications of Porphyrins and Metalloporphyrins to Materials Chemistry”
Date: 2006
- Bioweapons Detectors
Date: 2006
- Chemical Weapons Destruction and the Public Response
Date: 2006
- “Biological Simulants and Anti-material Agents
Date: 2005
- “Detection of Bioterrorist Agents
Date: 2005
Conferences
- Bionanotechnology and Iran
Date: October 2009
- Bioterrorism Deterrence: the Role of Public Health in Security
Date: October 2009
- ChemSensing: A Colorimetric Array Detector
Date: 2003
- Smell-Seeing: A New Approach to Artificial Olfaction
Date: 2002
- Assessing the Potential International Security Threats of Nanotechnology
- Bionanotechnology and Iran
- Bionanotechnology and Security: Is Small Scary
- Bioterrorism Deterrence: Polio and the Threat of Biological Terrorism
- Bioterrorism Deterrence: the Role of Public Health in Security
- Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Pursuit of WMD Terrorism,
- Probing the Strategic Significance of Nanotechnology in Iran
- Scope and Structural Challenges to Effective Verification and the BWC
- Security Implications of Cognitive Neuroscience Research
- Security Implications of Synthetic Biology and Nanobiotechnology: A Risk and Response Assessment of Advances in Biotechnology
- The Role of Biological Verification as Part of 21st Century International Security Strategy,
- The Role of Discourse in the Contested Commons of Radical Islam & WMD Terrorism
- Unified Field Theory of Proliferation: Toward a Meta-Theory Predicting Nuclear Expansion”
- Verification for the 21st Century: Summary and Recommendations
- Weapons of Mass Destruction in Gaming: Strategic versus Tactical Use in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (COD) and Massive Action Game (MAG)
- Will There be an AQ Khan of Nanotechnology? Anticipating Biological Proliferation Threats from a Revolutionary Technology
Working Papers
- Bioterrorism Deterrence: the Role of Public Health in Biosecurity,
- Nanotechnology: Assessing the Proliferation and Terrorism Risks
Internet Publications
- How to Give Counterterrorism a Fighting Chance
In: The National Interest
Date: January 2017
- Science, Technology, and the Future of Warfare
In: U.S. Army’s Modern War Institute War Council Blog
Date: October 2016
Interviews
- Interview on CNN Headline News Weekend Express
Date: September 2013
Alleged chemical weapons use in Syria
- US officials investigate use of Syrian chemical weapons
Date: August 2013
US officials investigate use of Syrian chemical weapons - The suspected Syrian chemical attacks: What now?
Date: August 2013
The suspected Syrian chemical attacks: What now?
Patents
- Colorimetric Artificial Nose Having an Array of Dyes and Method of Artificial Olfactio
Posters
- Novel Calcium Porphyrin Carboxylate Materials
- Shifting Trends in Chemical Terrorism: from Radical Islamists to Homegrown Terrorists
Other Publications
- Encyclopedia of Bioterrorism Defense, 2nd Edition
Date: June 2011
"Nano-Biotechnology", "Anti-Material Agents" and "Biological Simulants" by Margaret E. Kosal
- Dangerously Vulnerable: Several reports rate biological weapons as greatest terrorism threat
Date: January 2009
At this point, the biggest vulnerability with regard to chemical terrorism is a disturbing trend to dismiss the threat of chemical terrorism and the threat of chemical weapons as a relic of history," says Margaret E. Kosal, a professor of international affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology and author of the chemical weapons paper that was included in PSA's report card and one of the experts the commission called on.
- CHEMICAL TERRORISM: US Policies to Reduce The Chemical Terror Threat
Date: September 2008
- The Security Impact of the Neurosciences
Date: June 2008
- A More Troubling Nuclear Threat: Unsecured Fissile Material
In: The Public I,
- Art or Bioterrorism? Implications of the Kurtz Case for Research Science and for Limiting Terrorist Threats
In: INESAP Bulletin
- Biological Weapons Nonproliferation for the 21st Century: A Shift of Responsibility from Nation-states to Individual Researchers
- Chemical Terrorism: Review of US Policies to Implement Recommendations of the 9-11 Commission”
- Is Small Scary? Nanotechnology Research in an Age of Terrorism
In: Bulletin of Atomic Scientists,
- The Security Implications of Cognitive Science Research
In: Bulletin of Atomic Scientists,
- The U.S. Response to WMD Beyond Iraq: the First CWC Review Conference and the NPT Preparatory Conference
In: The Public I,