Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Tel Aviv

The Institute for National Security Studies is Israel's leading strategic think tank and the only Israeli institute ranked one of the world’s fifty leading institutes in the field of security and international affairs. INSS launches and engages in innovative, relevant, high-quality research that shapes the public discourse of issues on Israel's national security agenda, and provides policy analysis and recommendations to decision

makers, public leaders, and the strategic community, both in Israel and abroad.  As an independent, nonpartisan professional think tank operating outside the governmental political and security establishment, INSS is excellently positioned to analyze Israel's strategic situation and devise creative policy approaches.

Conceiving of strategy as a dynamic interdisciplinary field that involves intellectual, political, military, economic, and social resources, INSS focuses on the strategic challenges facing the State of Israel. By probing issues that are already part of the public discourse and those that portend future importance, INSS both responds to and helps shape the national security agenda. Through its policy-oriented research, INSS aims to inform and influence Israel's decision makers and contribute to sound decision making processes that integrate knowledge, assessments, and new ways of thinking.

INSS activity includes publications, conferences, seminars, war games and simulations, strategic dialogues, government and military briefings, briefings to the media and to the diplomatic corps, and consulting activity. INSS is also a primary resource for individuals and organizations dealing with Israeli national security strategy. The Institute's greatest asset is its researchers, most of whom have rich backgrounds in foreign affairs, security, international relations, and policymaking. Encompassing renowned academics and practitioners alike, many among the staff have held senior positions in various public institutions, including the IDF, the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, or have served as scholars in distinguished academic institutions in the United States and in Europe, as well as in Israel.

Operating as an independent nonprofit public benefit company, INSS is defined as an external institute affiliated with Tel Aviv University, with full research, budgetary, and administrative autonomy.