Every nation has an obligation to protect essential government, financial, energy, transportation, and other critical infrastructure operations against terrorist activities and natural disasters. RAND addresses homeland security and critical infrastructure needs through objective research that assists national, state, and local agencies in preventing and mitigating terrorist activities, as well as in improving disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
Journal Article
The authors quantify a game-theoretic model of terrorist decision making to understand the role of nuclear detection technologies in deterring nuclear terrorism.
Journal Article
Large local health departments could better inform planning and investments by using geographic information systems to align community needs and health outcomes with public health programs.
Journal Article
In this article, we present an application of jointly estimated attitudinal and choice models to a real-world transport study, looking at the role of latent attitudes in a rail travel context. Our results show the impact that concern with privacy, liberty and security, and distrust of business, technology and authority have on the desire for rail travel in the face of increased security measures, as well as for universal security checks.
Commentary
The highly sophisticated Stuxnet computer worm suspected of sending Iran's nuclear centrifuges into self-destruction mode forces a difficult debate on whether longstanding firewalls in our country's democracy should be breached for the sake of national security, writes Isaac Porche.
Journal Article
National performance standards for public health preparedness can be developed based on existing evidence, but would be helped immensely by a stronger evidence base.
Commentary
The recent foiled plot by a naturalized citizen to bomb Washington-area metro stations has national counterterrorism officials warning that the U.S. faces not only risks from abroad, but also homegrown terrorism, write John S. Hollywood and Kevin J. Strom.
Journal Article
More research is needed to improve understanding of Americans' reluctance to be vaccinated against the flu to better prepare the nation for a future pandemic flu outbreak.
Report
Examines the effects that a stronger focus on homeland security and counterterrorism has had on law enforcement since 9/11, including organizational changes, funding mechanisms, and benefits, costs, and future challenges.
Commentary
In a world where viruses travel as fast as jets, it becomes important for governments to share timely information and accelerate the production and delivery of vaccines, writes Melinda Moore.
Project
Research conducted by the Center for Public Health Systems and Preparedness seeks to minimize the population's risks from public health emergencies by improving the capability of public health systems to anticipate and respond to such emergencies.
Journal Article
This report sets out findings from a research project into the barriers to and incentives for information sharing in the field of network and information security, in the context of peer-to-peer groups such as Information Exchanges (IE) and Information Sharing Analysis Centres (ISACs).
Report
Focusing on three missions—illegal drug control, counterterrorism, and illegal migration—this report recommends ways to measure performance of U.S. border-security efforts in terms of interdiction, deterrence, and exploiting networked intelligence.
Journal Article
Using surveillance data, researchers identified neighborhoods in a Georgia county with a persistently high incidence of cardiac arrest and low rates of bystander CPR. Such neighborhoods are promising targets for community-based interventions.
Commentary
In his inaugural address, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu clearly accepted his dual challenge: rebuild a city that welcomes its still-displaced residents, and make long-needed changes to attract newcomers as well, writes Melissa Flournoy.
Report
Researchers assessing a disaster case management pilot recommend that future efforts establish better ways to find affected residents, consider needs/vulnerabilities in planning, and ensure continuity of services before, during, and after disaster.
Research Brief
RAND Europe undertook an internally funded, innovative discrete choice experiment to understand the real privacy and security trade-offs individuals are willing to make in order to inform policymakers about citizens' true preferences in this domain.
Report
In testimony presented before the House Homeland Security Committee, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment, Brian Michael Jenkins asserts that applying the law can counter the individualistic quality of radicalization and recruitment to jihadist terrorism in the United States.
Report
Effective intelligence gathering and a Muslim community unsympathetic to calls to violence have discouraged homegrown jihadist terrorism in the U.S. While there was a spike in domestic terrorism in 2009, the perpetrators were mostly individuals who recruited themselves into the role of terrorists.
Report
This report describes the current policy context for domestic all-hazards risk-informed capabilities-based planning by local military and civilian authorities and provides a framework for a local planning support tool for their use.
Journal Article
To what extent would people sacrifice their right to privacy and liberty in exchange for potentially safer and more secure travel? This paper uses a stated choice experiment to quantify individuals' tradeoffs between privacy and security within a real-life context, namely rail travel in the UK. Using a nationwide sample, the empirical analysis yields the importance of improvements in the security infrastructure and identifies areas of concern with regard to privacy and liberty controlling for travel related factors.
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