Editorial – CNTR Monitor

Artificial intelligence has spread rapidly from research labs into the real world. In the field of politics and security it has already found extensive use in surveillance, logistics, intelligence analysis, and military planning. In the civilian sector, AI is driving change in fields such as healthcare and scientific research. The overlap between civilian and military use makes AI regulation difficult and raises urgent questions for international security.

With such issues in mind, we are pleased to present the second edition of the CNTR Monitor. This year, we focus on how AI is reshaping international security and arms control. Avoiding far-future scenarios of fully autonomous weapon systems, we instead bring attention to the present and near future. To this end, the Monitor addresses concrete challenges and opportunities, including the rise of foundation models – which lower barriers to advanced AI capabilities but are difficult to oversee; the current geopolitics of AI and its use in warfare; institutional gaps complicating international AI governance; and the potential for AI to strengthen monitoring and verification in arms control.

Understanding AI’s global impact requires bridges between disciplines. Political scientists, computer scientists, engineers, and legal scholars must work together to grasp both technical realities and their consequences. At CNTR, we have established AI as a strategic research topic for the years to come, cutting across our existing research groups on nuclear, chemical and biological arms control and emerging disruptive technologies. We are also establishing an in-house AI compute infrastructure to enable interdisciplinary hands-on research as a basis for policy advice and to develop new tools for peace and security.

Beyond AI, the CNTR Monitor complements the focus section with a section on broader trends that impact international security. This year, our authors look at drones and their use in warfare, advanced nuclear reactors and their non-proliferation implications, and dual-use developments in the chemical and biological sciences. To conclude, we offer an update of our analysis of national security and technology strategies.

We hope you will find this edition of the CNTR Monitor informative and that it will enhance dialogue between researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the public.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Jürgen Altmann, Max Brackmann, Jonathan Forman, Zoe N. Gastelum, Emil Iftekar, Ricardo Rossa and Frank Sauer for their comprehensive review and valuable feedback on earlier versions of the CNTR Monitor chapters.

We thank the Federal Foreign Office for their continued funding and support. Yan-Jie Schnellbach and the nuSENTRY junior research group at TU Darmstadt would like the thank the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space for their funding and support.

Prof. Dr. Malte Göttsche
Prof. Dr. Malte Göttsche is Professor for Peace Research in Natural Sciences at PRIF and TU Darmstadt, Co-Speaker of CNTR, and Head of the Research Group Science for Nuclear Diplomacy. He researches nuclear nonproliferation, arms control and disarmament with a focus on the development of verification methods and technologies.
Dr. Kadri Reis
Dr. Kadri Reis is a Researcher in the Research Group Chemical and Biological Weapons Control. Her expertise includes in particular biosecurity and bioweapons.
Prof. Dr. Christopher Daase
Prof. Dr. Christopher Daase is Co-Speaker of CNTR, Professor of International Relations at Goethe University Frankfurt and Deputy Director of the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) where he heads the Research Department International Security. His research and teaching focuses on security policy (especially wars and civil wars, terrorism and radicalization, non-proliferation and arms control) as well as international institutions.