RAND's November 2012 Politics Aside weekend brought together leaders in government policy, business, and philanthropy to discuss challenges and solutions in an objective, nonpartisan environment.
Al Qaeda has long used the internet to attract recruits but with minimal success in the U.S., however, as most American Muslims hold no sympathy for al Qaeda and are actually an effective counterforce to online jihadist efforts.
Health care providers are encouraged to implement “shared decision making” in which patients and doctors together choose the treatment that is best for each patient. However, doctors need more instruction on how to engage patients and better information systems to make sure patients know their options and receive individualized care.
Most interventions in the past 25 years have been followed by improved security, some degree of democratization, and significant economic growth—with only a modest commitment of international military and civilian manpower and economic assistance.
Producing natural gas from shale generates air pollutant emissions. RAND researchers provided a first-order estimate of air emissions, and the monetary value of the associated damages, from the extraction of shale gas in Pennsylvania.
The United States has a long history of helping other nations develop and improve their military and other security forces. An analysis of 29 case studies helps identify how the U.S. Department of Defense can increase the effectiveness of these initiatives as it faces budget cuts that will affect the funding available for them.
While not advocating further defense cuts, RAND researchers offer three strategies to cut roughly $400-$500 billion from U.S. defense programs over the next decade without crippling the force.
In the face of economic uncertainties and growing pressures to reduce defense spending, the United States must choose among alternative force postures, each of which has advantages and drawbacks.
At a time when the United States is expecting its European allies to shoulder more of the burden of defending Europe and its interests, all members of NATO must learn to do more with less.
A federal government corporation and an independent government agency are the two most promising models for a new organization to manage and dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the United States.
Using data from the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project, researchers developed a model to compile data from multiple sources that could be used to make inferences about a teacher's impact on student achievement.
Despite wide investments nationally in electronic medical records and related tools, the cost-saving promise of health information technology has not been reached because the systems deployed are neither interconnected nor easy to use.
The chances are growing that the United States will find itself in a crisis in cyberspace. Such crises can be managed by taking steps to reduce the incentives for other states to step into crisis, by controlling the narrative, understanding the stability parameters of the crises, and trying to manage escalation if conflicts arise from crises.
For Arkansas, the Affordable Care Act will result in an increase in GDP of around $550 million and the creation of about 6,200 jobs. The new law will also increase health insurance coverage by 400,000 newly insured individuals.
Family environments present opportunities for interventions that promote physical activity. Family members share genetic risk factors associated with chronic health conditions, and physical
inactivity tends to cluster within families and households.
An illustrated guide provides state and local decisionmakers with a high-level synopsis of mileage fee issues: policy motivations, technical options, key challenges, and emerging strategies to address those challenges.
Student mental health programs can improve staff, faculty, and student knowledge of mental health problems, provide skills for identifying and referring students in need, and change attitudes toward mental health problems.
The U.S. Navy requires an agile, adaptable acquisition process that can field new IT capabilities and services quickly. Successful rapid acquisition programs in the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps offer lessons for the Navy as it develops its own streamlined processes for computer network defense and similar program areas.
Many families experience the challenges of caregiver depression and early childhood developmental delays. Although services and supports across systems could help caregivers to deal with such issues at the family level, numerous obstacles prevent adequate screening and identification, referral, and service delivery.
Incentives to participate in wellness programs or reach health-related targets are popular, but could expose employers and insurers to litigation risk because incentives might violate state and federal insurance, anti-discrimination, or privacy laws.
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