East Asia, comprising China, Taiwan, Japan, Mongolia, and North and South Korea, is a region that has historically been of critical interest to the United States. In particular, China's growing economic, military, and diplomatic power in the region and North Korea's nuclear ambitions have long been a focus of U.S. foreign policy and of RAND research.
The RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy (CAPP) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, multidisciplinary research center within RAND. CAPP's mission is to improve policy by providing decision-makers and the public with rigorous, objective, cutting-edge research on critical policy challenges facing Asia and U.S.-Asia relations.
Report
The likely costs and implications of alternative national defense strategies should be assessed through disciplined analyses that examine whether the primary agents of the strategy, U.S. combatant commands, have the ability to meet the strategy's expectations, rather than by merely allowing external events, time constraints, or politics to direct the strategy and inflate its costs.
Report
In a conference cohosted by RAND and the Center for Naval Analyses Corporation, members of the U.S. defense community discussed approaches to meeting the challenges of a demanding future security environment.
Commentary
Will terrorists go nuclear? It is a question that worried public officials and frightened citizens have been asking for decades. It is no less of a worry today, as we ponder the seventh anniversary of 9/11, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.
Report
The foreign policy success of incoming presidents, particularly in the early years of a presidency, is largely determined by how well the new administration learns from the successes and failures of the outgoing president.
Journal Article
Key successes in achieving reform and development – particularly the creation of government stakesholders, the broadening of the ideological spectrum, collaboration between political factions, and major internal and external shocks – have contributed to the consolidation of the democratic system.
Report
Historical examples and the analysis of two modified Delphi exercises augment an examination of approaches to escalation management within the demands of today’s security environment and its attendant threats involving not only long-standing nuclear powers, but also insurgent groups and terrorists.
Research Brief
This research brief describes a study of nuclear-armed regional adversaries, which suggests that U.S. policymakers and commanders will want to field improved capabilities that can prevent (rather than deter) an enemy's use of nuclear weapons.
Commentary
A hold on the nomination of veteran diplomat Kathleen Stephens to the post of Ambassador to South Korea is unfortunate and could ultimately prove self-defeating, writes Chaibong Hahm.
Report
China and India's health systems have shown advances in boosting life expectancy and disease prevention in the past fifty years. However, those living in the two nations are still exposed to a high degree of financial risk, geographical inequities in health care access, and overall poorer health than in other countries.
Commentary
Of all countries remiss in their responsibility to protect human rights, China bears special scrutiny because of its influence with the Myanmar and Sudanese regimes, writes David C. Gompert.
Report
An inflow of foreign students in the sciences -- as well as scientists and engineers from overseas -- has helped the United States build and maintain its worldwide lead in science and technology.
Report
The predominant threat to U.S. security in the 21st century comes not from the actions of opposing countries but from the fallout of collapsing ones. The world’s leading states can and should help the citizens of failed states by integrating efforts to reduce violence, advance the economy, and reform government.
Periodical
The United States and other nations can promote peaceful modernization of North Korea's political, economic, and security systems using policy recommendations put forth by a unique multinational collaboration. A set of policy instruments could be used to engender fundamental, but peaceful, system change.
Commentary
The United States can and should move beyond a "one size fits all" approach to sizing military forces toward a construct that shapes each service for the types of operations it is actually expected to conduct in the future, write Andrew Hoehn and David Ochmanek.
Commentary
Over the last five years, the South Korean government has tried to downplay the military threat posed by North Korea. However North Korea still poses a serious military threat to South Korea, writes Bruce Bennett.
Report
Presents an evaluation model to assess the impact of the Brain Korea 21 program, which seeks to make Korean research universities globally competitive and to produce more high-quality researchers in Korea.
Report
Presents an evaluation model to assess the impact of the Brain Korea 21 program, which seeks to make Korean research universities globally competitive and to produce more high-quality researchers in Korea.
News Release
An unprecedented joint report by researchers from the U.S., China, Russia, Japan and South Korea recommends a new approach to promoting the modernization of North Korea.
Report
An unprecedented joint report by researchers from the U.S., China, Russia, Japan and South Korea recommends a new approach to promoting the modernization of North Korea, as well as a "tool kit" to enable North Koreans to create their own modernization plans.
Report
Different educational approaches in China and India have been successful in stimulating economic growth; the successes and challenges of both education systems offer valuable lessons for China, India, and the rest of the developing world.
RAND® is a registered trademark. Copyright © 1994-2013 RAND Corporation. Last Modified: October 11, 2010 Site Feedback »
