Archive: The Presidential Transition
Selected Research, Commentary and Congressional Testimony
From Strategy to Implementation: The Future of the U.S.-Pakistan Relationship — May 5, 2009
In testimony presented before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, C. Christine Fair examines challenges at hand in helping Pakistan achieve stability through a civilian-controlled state, with U.S. involvement responsive to Pakistani preferences.
Full Document
International Affairs Research Area
Transportation Challenges for the New Administration: Perspectives of Past Transportation Secretaries — May 1, 2009
Shortly after the inauguration of President Barack Obama, RAND hosted a panel discussion with three former U.S. secretaries of transportation. These conference proceedings summarize their comments on which issues should be among the Department of Transportation's (DOT's) top priorities, DOT funding and appropriation, earmarking and transparency in the transportation funding process, and the federal role in transportation policy.
Full DocumentTransportation and Infrastructure Research Area
Swine Flu: A Real Security Threat — Apr. 30, 2009
In the rush of constant news updates on swine flu, we must recognize that controlling the spread of this disease is not simply a health concern but also one of national security. And in today's globalized world, the spread of swine flu has become not just a U.S. national security threat but every country's national security threat, writes Melinda Moore.
CommentaryNational Security Research Area
What the Policy Community Should Know About Corporate Compliance, Ethics, and Misdeeds — Apr. 28, 2009
Improving corporate compliance, ethics, and oversight has been a significant policy goal for the U.S. government for decades, and made more salient by the collapse of financial markets in late 2008. On March 5, 2009, RAND convened a conference in Washington, D.C., on the role and perspectives of corporate chief ethics and compliance officers in the detection and prevention of corporate misdeeds.
Full DocumentWorkforce and Workplace Research Area
Who Has the Will to Fight Piracy? — Apr. 21, 2009
The recent French and American rescues of hostages held by pirates off the coast of Somalia were necessary and proper. No one believes these actions will end piracy. But unless we impose risks on the pirates—which means taking some risks ourselves—piracy will certainly flourish, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Leaving the Nest — Apr. 17, 2009
In the wake of President Obama's recent European trip, hopes for a rejuvenation of transatlantic security cooperation continue to rise. This means resolving some old problems and avoiding new pitfalls, writes Christopher S. Chivvis.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
N.K. Provocation Suggests Regime in Trouble — Apr. 9, 2009
North Korea spent weeks preparing to launch a ballistic missile that could reach the United States. It argued that the launch was intended to put a satellite into orbit. But a space launch vehicle is a ballistic missile used for a modestly different purpose, writes Bruce W. Bennett.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Five Key Education Priorities for the Obama Administration — Apr. 8, 2009
A set of five policy briefs address key education priorities for the Obama administration and the 111th Congress. Each brief summarizes the current research on the topic and the implications for federal policymakers.
Read MoreEducation Research Area
Obama's Turkish Dilemma — Apr. 6, 2009
President Obama's visit to Ankara this week highlights Turkey's growing strategic importance to the United States - and a high stakes dilemma for the President and for U.S. strategic interests, writes F. Stephen Larrabee.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Afghanistan Is NATO's Most Important Challenge — Apr. 3, 2009
NATO has a useful future. But it will require bridging the gap in perceptions between the U.S. and most of the European allies about what is important for security and what to do about it. Both sides have to start seeing the other's interests and concerns; and the time to make those commitments is at the NATO summit, writes Robert E. Hunter.
CommentaryScience and Technology Research Area
U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan — Apr. 2, 2009
In testimony presented before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia, Seth G. Jones asserts that a key challenge to bringing about the end of the Afghan insurgency lies in implementing the new U.S. strategy.
Full DocumentNational Security Research Area
Space: The Final Junkyard? — Apr. 2, 2009
Celestial real estate is increasingly popular. All in all more than 900 satellites, along with tens of thousands of bits of man-made space detritus, jockey for elbow room overhead. The result: a growing threat our atmosphere will soon become so crowded with floating junk as to become almost unusable, write Caroline Reilly and Peter D. Zimmerman.
CommentaryScience and Technology Research Area
The Torture Debate, Redux — Apr. 1, 2009
Former Vice President Cheney has been insisting again that the coercive interrogation techniques used against terrorism detainees after 9/11 prevented attacks on the United States.... His assertions merit more careful examination, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.
CommentaryTerrorism and Homeland Security Research Area
Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan — Mar. 26, 2009
In testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs former Ambassador to Afghanistan James Dobbins outlines the steps the Obama administration should take to secure the nation as the situation there worsens.
Full DocumentInternational Affairs Research Area
Iran's New Contender — Mar. 24, 2009
Iran's presidential race just got more interesting, with former Prime Minister Mousavi throwing his hat in the ring and former President Khatami withdrawing his. This development poses the most significant challenge yet to current President Ahmadinejad - and a potential opportunity to alter the relationship between Iran and the West, writes Alireza Nader.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
France's Creeping Reintegration — Mar. 24, 2009
At the upcoming NATO summit, French President Sarkozy is expected to formally announce France's return to NATO's integrated military command, which, if confirmed, will remove an important irritant in U.S.-French relations and open up new possibilities for strengthening U.S.-European cooperation more broadly, writes Stephen Larrabee.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
U.S.-NATO Immersion Course — Mar. 10, 2009
At a major conference in Munich last month, Vice President Joseph Biden underscored the U.S. determination to rebuild strong and productive relations with its European allies. No issue matters more than Afghanistan, writes Robert E. Hunter.
Commentary
Is Iraq Safe Yet? — Mar. 5, 2009
The Obama administration's decision to withdraw the bulk of United Sates troops from Iraq over the next 19 months has sparked fears that Iraq will once again plunge into the wide-scale and debilitating violence that it endured from 2004 to 2007. Those fears are, for the most part, overblown, writes Lowell Schwartz.
CommentaryNational Security Research Area
To Talk With Iran, Stop Not Talking — Mar. 3, 2009
If the dominant imperative is to stop Iran from getting the bomb, every month counts. Perhaps the simplest -- and certainly the quickest -- way to launch a dialogue with Iran, and the one least likely to play unhelpfully into the upcoming Iranian election, would be to simply stop not talking to Tehran, writes James Dobbins.
CommentaryNational Security Research Area
Wanted Dead or Alive? When We Don't Get Our Man — Mar. 3, 2009
On his first day in office, President Barack Obama issued a dramatic series of executive orders intended to symbolize a change of direction in America's "war" on terrorism. Despite the headlines these orders generated, a more significant policy shift may have been the one signaled the week before his inauguration, writes Benjamin Runkle.
CommentaryNational Security Research Area
Power to the People: Rebooting Conventional Diplomacy — Feb. 27, 2009
The story of how President Obama engineered a grass-roots campaign, mobilizing formerly disengaged U.S. citizens with new media and new technologies, has reached almost mythological proportions. Less well known is the story of similar grass-roots efforts emerging in local communities around the world, write Cherl Benard and Edward O'Connell.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan — Feb. 26, 2009
In testimony presented before the Senate Armed Services Committee, James Dobbins suggests steps the new Administration and its allies should consider in reviewing Afghan policy.
Full DocumentInternational Affairs Research Area
Adjusting to Global Economic Change: The Dangerous Road Ahead — Feb. 17, 2009
This study of historical experience from an economics perspective explores various crises - from the Great Depression to the stagflation and recovery of the 1970s and 1980s to our current economic woes - and suggests the tools policymakers need to address what may be the worst case scenario.
Full DocumentWorkforce and Workplace Research Area
Obama's Foreign Policy Team and U.S.-Korean Relations — Feb. 16, 2009
The concrete contours of President Obama's foreign policy team have finally begun to emerge. What is intriguing is how many assignments are being given to those who have worked on the Korean peninsula, writes Chaibong Hahm.
CommentaryNational Security Research Area
Going the Distance — Feb. 15, 2009
Afghanistan has a reputation as a graveyard of empires, based as much on lore as on reality.... Yes, the situation is serious, but it's far from doomed. We can still turn things around if we strive for a better understanding of the Afghan insurgency and work to exploit its many weaknesses, writes Seth G. Jones.
CommentaryNational Security Research Area
What the Israeli Right Owes to Hamas — Feb. 14, 2009
Israel's election is likely a setback for U.S. President Barack Obama's peacemaking agenda and certainly spotlights the shortcomings of the Israeli electoral system, which desperately needs reform. Yet it does broadly reflect the prevailing sentiment among the Israeli public, writes Claude Berrebi.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Asia's Nonproliferation Laggards: China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia — Feb. 9, 2009
The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction ranks as one of the biggest challenges facing the Obama administration. Luckily, Mr. Obama has a tool to combat this threat, in the form of the Proliferation Security Initiative.... The trick now will be to convince key Asian countries to participate, writes Charles Wolf Jr.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Domestic Trends in the United States, China, and Iran: Implications for U.S. Security Planning — Jan. 22, 2009
The U.S. Navy faces uncertainty about the need to prepare for a high-end future conflict against a powerful, well-armed opponent versus the so-called Long War against rogue nations and terrorist organizations. The answer depends to a large extent on the evolution of U.S. relations with China and Iran and the future of the United States itself.
Full DocumentNational Security Research Area
The Secret Briefing Obama Needs on Day One — Jan. 22, 2009
A select few Americans will ever see the president's daily brief -- a digest of the intelligence community's most closely guarded secrets. But trust me, Barack Obama is going to need much more useful information than he is getting now, writes Gregory F. Treverton.
CommentaryNational Security Research Area
A Smarter Economic Stimulus Package — Jan. 21, 2009
President Obama's infrastructure plan doesn't yet carry a price tag. We only know that it will be big.... The trick is how it will be done. It will not be enough to simply rebuild and repair critical infrastructure systems. We need to reinvent the systems themselves, writes Martin Wachs.
CommentaryTransportation and Infrastructure Research Area
Unfolding the Future of the Long War: Implications for the U.S. Military — Jan. 19, 2009
While policymakers, military leaders, and scholars have offered numerous definitions of the "long war" - an epic struggle against adversaries bent on forming a unified Islamic world to supplant western dominance; an extension of the war on terror - no consensus has been reached about this term or its implications for the United States.
Full DocumentNational Security Research Area
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