RAND and Middle East Policy Analysis

Introduction to RAND

In its early years, Middle East policy analysis by RAND focused on strategic issues and geopolitical investigations linked to issues of American national security. As RAND grew and added a number of new analytic capabilities, its work on the Middle East broadened and began to reflect the various analytic emphases of its many research units. Over time, RAND has assembled a corps of 1,000 researchers notable not only for their individual skills but for their interdisciplinary approach to problem solving. Our scientists, engineers, social scientists, and humanists work together to address the problems and concerns of people around the world. Our staff offer a strong repertoire of capabilities, from long-range planning and forecasting to risk assessment and analysis, program evaluation, strategic planning, business process improvement and re-engineering, and technology assessment. And our focus is on the issues that matter most, such as health, education, national security, international affairs, law and business, the environment, and more.

As a non-profit, nonpartisan organization, RAND is widely respected for operating independent of political or commercial pressures.

RAND and the Middle East

RAND's work on the Middle East is conducted by virtually every one of its many research units. Although RAND does not align itself with political platforms, it is a working assumption that to fully understand questions of stability in the Middle East, one has to be conversant in the political, societal, and cultural issues in the region. In this way, RAND is able to bring to bear a full array of analytic capabilities to understand the Middle East in the broadest possible sense.

Center for Middle East Public Policy and the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute

Much of RAND's Middle East work is coordinated by its Center for Middle East Public Policy (CMEPP) and the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute (RQPI). CMEPP develops opportunities for RAND's many and diverse research units to involve themselves in Middle East work. Thus, CMEPP worked over several years to develop a relationship with the Qatar Foundation, which asked RAND for assistance in conducting an evaluation of its K-12 education system. CMEPP then turned to RAND Education, the unit at RAND responsible for dealing with K-12 issues, which ultimately developed options for education reform in Qatar in a large, multi-year project. RAND Education went on to assist Qatar University, the nation's first and only public higher education institution, with reform of its major administrative and academic structures, policies, and practices.

Many members of the RAND research staff have been influenced by the findings of the United Nations Development Program report on the Arab human condition. This report, prepared by and for Arab intellectuals, argued that the economic development of the Arab world is intrinsically linked to progress in areas having to do with education, the rights of women, and numerous other human capital domains. RAND Education's work in Qatar is a step toward the accomplishment of this goal.

One consequence of RAND’s work in Qatar has been an increased demand throughout the Middle East in RAND analysis. This led RAND to collaborate with the Qatar Foundation to create the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute in 2003. The goal of RQPI is to expand the reach of RAND analysis throughout the Middle East and to help build local capacity to perform fact-based policy analysis. In addition to its work on education issues, RQPI is providing assistance to the Supreme Council for Health to develop a national clinical services framework that provides a basis for improving patient-centered health care delivery. RQPI continues to be a source of policy analysis and training for many other Qatar Government agencies, including the Amiri Diwan and the Supreme Council of Family Affairs. The institute has also undertaken an analysis of the reform efforts of four Arab region nations (Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates) in response to human capital challenges they face in preparing their people to work in a global environment. Current projects address planning, resource estimation, and policy formulation issues in transportation, energy, environmental protection, and food security.

RAND in Abu Dhabi

In 2010, RAND opened an office in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates, to deliver policy analysis and training to clients in the public and industry sectors in the United Arab Emirates in a broad range of fields. One recent study presented the results of a comparative environmental risk-ranking exercise that prioritized environmental health risks in the UAE.

Providing Policy Advice in Kurdistan

RAND has been advising the Kurdistan Regional Government on various topics. RAND Health recently helped the Ministry of Health design an innovative, comprehensive approach to primary care in order to improve the availability and quality of primary health care for the people of the Kurdistan region. Ongoing projects include work in education, designing a system for data collection, and developing a strategy to increase private-sector employment.

Israel Public Policy Research at RAND

RAND’s first major project in Israel, in 2009, provided recommendations on the role of natural gas in Israel's energy future. In the project, RAND evaluated strategies for using natural gas and addressed some of the larger questions related to managing risk, timing of investments in infrastructure, and diversifying Israel's future energy portfolio. Another RAND team is conducting a study of the Israel Police that will examine the force's effectiveness and its power structure. More recently, in 2011, RAND was selected by Israel to assist a government team in formulating a long- term strategy that will advance the state of Israel toward becoming one of the leading countries in the world in quality of life for its citizens.

Toward a Palestinian State

Creating a successful independent Palestinian state poses a range of political, economic, social, and environmental challenges. Since 2002, a multidisciplinary team of experts from RAND has been working with Palestinians, Israelis, and the international community to develop a comprehensive nation-building plan to address these challenges and facilitate the state’s success. RAND’s work examines the evolving needs in the region, including governance, security, economic development, health, education, environment/natural resources, infrastructure, and urban planning.

Initiative on Middle East Youth

In line with this empirical emphasis, RAND created the Initiative on Middle East Youth (IMEY). The goal was to focus on those aspects of child rearing, in addition to education, that affect the attitudes of children and their ability to mature into full-fledged members of society. IMEY signed a joint venture with Sesame Workshop and produced a series of Sesame Street programs in Afghan languages for distribution in Afghanistan. The goal of these programs, disseminated by video rather than real-time television, was to address many of the issues ignored during the years of civil war and during Taliban domination, when education, particularly for girls, was ignored. IMEY was also involved in a project on distance learning as a means to determine how radio and computers could be used to augment the sometimes-inadequate educational facilities in a number of Middle East countries.

National Security Issues in the Middle East

RAND analysts are also heavily engaged in studying a variety of security issues, including the war on terrorism, U.S. Middle East policy, recent uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, the future of Iran, post-Saddam Iraq, the world after bin Laden, and countless other topics. RAND's non-political character and commitment to empirical, objective, systematic analysis naturally permit and encourage partnerships with institutions throughout the United States, the Middle East, and beyond. RAND is regarded as an honest broker and indeed is working to develop opportunities for policy analytic work with all countries in the region, including those in the Arab world, Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, and Turkey. Although RAND is in many instances working closely with the United States government, RAND is an independent non-profit organization.

Conclusions

What is perhaps most distinctive about RAND's approach to the complex challenges confronting the Middle East is its analytic breadth. All of the following challenges demand repeated and high-level attention, both from regional decisionmakers and from those beyond the region who are committed to stability in the Middle East:

• Developing accountable, efficient government institutions that deliver social services more effectively.
• The challenges of the Arab human condition, as described by the UNDP report in the areas of women's rights, education, and social equity.
• Managing water and other natural resources in ways that promote a sustainable future.
• Creating the conditions and policies that will promote private-sector entrepreneurship and economic growth.
• Equitable resolution of the Palestine problem in a fashion sensitive to Palestinian desires for statehood and legitimate Israeli demands for national security
• The nation-building process in Iraq
• The promotion of democracy in a way that advances, rather than undermines, stability
• The war on terrorism, along with the diminution of extremism and radicalism
• The future of Afghanistan
• Leadership succession in a number of important states

These challenges represent only a small number of the issues that need to be effectively confronted in the Middle East. What is notable about this list is the complex interplay between social, cultural, economic, strategic, and political challenges. RAND recognizes its role as an institution geared to providing analytical and policy-implementation assistance to policymakers rather than making policy itself. It is the goal of RAND to equip policymakers with the full array of options available to them, the costs and benefits of choosing one set of options over another, and a rigorously honest and objective sounding board. It is RAND's belief that a comprehensive approach, bringing together RAND's diverse skill set, may be the best route to helping this region work its way through many of its problems.