About

Margaret E. Kosal is a Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, affiliated with the Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy at Georgia Tech. Her research explores the relationships among technology, strategy, and governance, with a focus on 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, especially in a post-Cold War environment where advanced military power no longer guarantees security due to the proliferation of dual-use capabilities among nation-states and non-state actors. Her long-term goals include understanding the drivers of technological innovation and how technology influences national security and modern warfare, developing strategic approaches and policy options to enable U.S. dominance and limit proliferation of unconventional weapons. Her research considers the impact of nanotechnology, cognitive science, biotechnology, and converging sciences on security, deterrence, nonproliferation regimes, and programmatic choices, aiming to develop analytical frameworks for assessing new technologies' security implications and policy measures to prevent proliferation. Kosal has authored and edited numerous publications on these topics, including books on nanotechnology, disruptive technologies, and weapons proliferation, and has served in various advisory and leadership roles within the U.S. government and international organizations. Her expertise spans biotechnology, emerging technology, military nanotechnology, nuclear security, and nonproliferation, and she is actively involved in scholarly editorial work and policy advising.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Computer Security
• Computer Science
• Business
• Law
• Public relations
• Engineering ethics
• Artificial Intelligence
• Biology
• Engineering
• Environmental ethics
• Ecology
• Biotechnology
• Psychology
• Internet privacy

Selected publications

• Emerging Technologies and New Voices in Nuclear Debates

  PS Political Science & Politics · 2026-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Coercing Syria on Chemical Weapons: A Case Study of Deterrence and Coercive Diplomacy. By Matthew Moran, Wyn Q. Bowen, and Jeffrey W. Knopf. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2025. 264p.

  Perspectives on Politics · 2025-11-03

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Shaping the future US bioeconomy through safety, security, sustainability, and social responsibility

  Trends in biotechnology · 2023 · 10 citations

  • Political Science
  • Business
  • Engineering ethics

  Biomanufacturing practitioners and researchers describe the norms that should govern the growing, global field, to include safety, security, sustainability, and social responsibility. These '4S Principles' should be broadly adopted so that the future of the field may provide the greatest benefits to society.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• How COVID-19 is reshaping U.S. national security policy

  Politics and the Life Sciences · 2023-09-27 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States is actively reshaping parts of its national security enterprise. This article explores the underlying politics, with a specific interest in the context of biosecurity, biodefense, and bioterrorism strategy, programs, and response, as the United States responds to the most significant outbreak of an emerging infectious disease in over a century. How the implicit or tacit failure to recognize the political will and political decision-making connected to warfare and conflict for biological weapons programs in these trends is explored. Securitization of public health has been a focus of the literature over the past half century. This recent trend may represent something of an inverse: an attempt to treat national security interests as public health problems. A hypothesis is that the most significant underrecognized problem associated with COVID-19 is disinformation and the weakening of confidence in institutions, including governments, and how adversaries may exploit that blind spot.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Emerging Technologies and NATO's Expansion

  Transatlantic Policy Quarterly · 2023-06-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  How can NATO’s expansion maximize the benefits of emerging technologies to allied states and to further strengthen transatlantic security? This article reviews the need for deep strategic understanding. It examines theoretical and practical factors affecting emerging technologies and their diffusion inside NATO and in the context of current and future adversaries. Moreover, it highlights specific environments and areas in which new NATO states' experience and domain expertise are likely to contribute to the alliance and explores the role of emerging technologies in defense strategy. Specific recommendations regarding Arctic operations, emerging technologies, and Track II diplomatic efforts are proposed.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Neurotechnology and international security

  Politics and the Life Sciences · 2022 · 18 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Computer Security
  • Computer Science

  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.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Introduction

  Advanced sciences and technologies for security applications · 2021-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• 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

  Advanced sciences and technologies for security applications · 2021-01-01 · 2 citations

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Proliferation of Weapons- and Dual-Use Technologies

  Advanced sciences and technologies for security applications · 2021-01-01 · 5 citations

  book1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Artificial Intelligence: Unpacking Political, Rhetorical, and Security Factors

  Advanced sciences and technologies for security applications · 2021-01-01 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Kenneth S. Suslick

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  15 shared

• Shirley Nakagaki

  Universidade Federal do Paraná

  6 shared

• Scott R. Wilson

  Film Independent

  6 shared

• Dennis W. Smithenry

  Highland Community College - Illinois

  5 shared

• Jun-Hong Chou

  4 shared

• Neal A. Rakow

  3M (United States)

  4 shared

• Lawrence Rubin

  3 shared

• P. Bhyrappa

  3 shared

Awards & honors

• 2015 CETL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award
• 2014 Georgia Tech Junior Faculty Outstanding Undergraduate R…
• 2012 Ivan Allen Jr Legacy Award
• 2010 INTAGO Faculty Award
• CETL Class of 1969 Teaching Scholar