Texas National Security Review

Texas National Security Review Launched in 2017 by The University of Texas System, the Texas National Security Review is a journal committed to excellence, scholarly rigor, and big ideas.

We are also the home of the "Horns of a Dilemma" podcast. An inter-disciplinary, policy-relevant journal on national and international security affairs, brought to you by The University of Texas at Austin.

When calculating the net consequences of national security decisions, the human factor is often overlooked. Stress, fati...
08/18/2026

When calculating the net consequences of national security decisions, the human factor is often overlooked. Stress, fatigue, and cognitive shortcuts can lead decision-makers to prioritize immediate goals while ignoring long-term civilizational impacts.

Tune in to Horns of a Dilemma to hear Dr. Rose McDermott, Dr. Paul Slovic, and Commander Daniel R. Post break down how behavioral science can help reform high-stakes decision-making processes to protect human lives and prevent catastrophic escalation.

Listen now: https://tnsr.org/2026/08/virtuous-violence-and-the-psychology-of-nuclear-escalation/

Arithmetic of Compassion

08/06/2026

How did Pyongyang survive the fall of state socialism? In our latest podcast episode, Dr. Benjamin Young argues that North Korea reframed the Soviet collapse as proof of its own ideological superiority.

By presenting Juche as a utopian evolution of Marxism-Leninism, the regime justified its survival and set the stage for Songun—Kim Jong Il’s military-first doctrine.

Listen to the full episode here: https://tnsr.org/2026/08/how-the-soviet-collapse-shaped-north-korea

How did the collapse of the Soviet Union shape the modern North Korean state? In our latest podcast episode, Dr. Benjami...
08/04/2026

How did the collapse of the Soviet Union shape the modern North Korean state? In our latest podcast episode, Dr. Benjamin R. Young unpacks this historical turning point.

He argues that instead of seeing the USSR's fall as a cue to modernize, Pyongyang's leadership viewed it as a catastrophic failure of ideological purity. Dr. Young explains how this perspective led North Korea to double down on Stalinism, elevate the military above the working class, and accelerate its nuclear weapons program to ensure regime survival.

We are proud to publish our Summer 2026 print issue (Vol. 9, Issue 3), "New Challenges, Shifting Perspectives."All of th...
07/28/2026

We are proud to publish our Summer 2026 print issue (Vol. 9, Issue 3), "New Challenges, Shifting Perspectives."

All of the articles featured in this edition were made available online throughout the summer, and the full physical volume can now be purchased through the University of Texas Press.

This issue brings together critical analysis on nuclear strategy, space diplomacy, subsea infrastructure, and regime survival:

Francis J. Gavin examines why geography and place still matter in an age of domain-shifting geopolitics.

Paul Slovic, Missy Peterson, Rose McDermott, Daniel R. Post, and Daniel Västfjäll analyze how psychological heuristics distort nuclear risk assessments.

R. Lincoln Hines, Lawrence Rubin, and Dayana Alagirova detail China's expanding space footprint in the Middle East.

Benjamin R. Young outlines the structural lessons North Korea drew from the Soviet collapse.

Charles Mok 莫乃光 highlights strategies to protect global undersea telecommunications cables.

Eric Brewer evaluates the utility and risks of nuclear threshold capabilities.

Order your copy of our latest issue today from the University of Texas Press!
07/24/2026

Order your copy of our latest issue today from the University of Texas Press!

07/24/2026

Why does critical infrastructure receive so little attention before a crisis? Satellites dominate defense conversations, yet undersea cables transmit 99% of intercontinental data.

On our latest podcast episode, Charles Mok 莫乃光 explains how policymakers routinely prioritize high-profile technologies over legacy systems. Because cables sit at the bottom of the ocean, they remain out of sight and out of mind. Mok argues that this glamour bias leaves global connectivity dangerously exposed to gray-zone disruption.

Undersea cables handle approximately 99% of all intercontinental data transmission, making them the invisible backbone o...
07/21/2026

Undersea cables handle approximately 99% of all intercontinental data transmission, making them the invisible backbone of global connectivity. Despite our total dependence on them, this critical infrastructure remains out of sight and out of mind for many policymakers.

On our latest podcast episode, Charles Mok 莫乃光 discusses the sharp rise in intentional gray-zone attacks on these networks. He argues that defensive domestic policies are insufficient. True resilience cannot be achieved by merely protecting local shores; it requires a coordinated international effort to safeguard global choke points.

Stanford Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) | Internet Society

Economic failure helped bring down the Soviet Union. But North Korea drew a different lesson than most observers expecte...
07/15/2026

Economic failure helped bring down the Soviet Union. But North Korea drew a different lesson than most observers expected.

Benjamin R. Young argues that Pyongyang has consistently placed regime survival above economic progress—prioritizing dynastic loyalty, ideological control, and political stability over the kind of reforms that might have relieved its citizens' suffering.

It's a striking finding that challenges assumptions about what authoritarian regimes need to survive.

What lessons did North Korea draw from the fall of the Soviet Union?In our summer issue, Benjamin R. Young argues that P...
07/13/2026

What lessons did North Korea draw from the fall of the Soviet Union?

In our summer issue, Benjamin R. Young argues that Pyongyang's response diverged sharply from Beijing's. Drawing on North Korean newspapers and state media, Young shows that the Kim regime reached one overriding conclusion: the USSR collapsed because it failed to maintain ideological discipline and lacked an indigenous nuclear deterrent.

The DPRK would not make the same mistakes. Young traces how the Soviet collapse reinforced North Korea's commitment to dynastic succession, autarky, and nuclear weapons, and why that brutal path has proved durable.

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