RAND's international affairs research comprises a range of cross-cutting issues, including global economies and trade, space and maritime security, diplomacy, global health and education, nation building, and regional security and stability. RAND also analyzes the policies and effectiveness of international organizations such as the UN, NATO, European Union, and ASEAN.
Research Brief
Assesses the utility and limitations of minimalist stabilization -- small-scale interventions designed to stabilize a partner government engaged in violent conflict -- and proposes policy recommendations to improve the outcomes of such operations.
Journal Article
This paper evaluates whether health plans in Germany's Social Health Insurance select on an easily observable predictor of risk: geography.
Report
Assesses the utility and limitations of minimalist stabilization -- small-scale interventions designed to stabilize a partner government engaged in violent conflict -- and proposes policy recommendations to improve the outcomes of such operations.
Report
This study assesses U.S. policy options on the Iranian nuclear question by addressing how to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and, failing this, how best to mitigate the negative international effects of a nuclear-armed Iran.
Report
Report assesses whether the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty continues to serve America's national interests, or whether adherence unduly constrains the U.S. ability to effectively respond to emerging security threats.
Report
Questions the current common view of the North Korean missile program and seeks to better characterize the North Korean missile threat by comparing the available data on the North Korea missile program against several possible hypotheses.
News Release
A new method for estimating the costs of counterfeiting was published today by RAND Europe. The approach uses market data to estimate the effects of intellectual property rights infringements, such as counterfeit products, on sales of legitimate goods.
Report
Globalization, integrated markets, and the Internet economy have contributed to the rise in IPR infringements. RAND developed a methodology based on economic theory to contribute to quantifying the scope, scale, and impact of IPR infringements, such as counterfeiting, unauthorized downloads, and piracy.
Commentary
Not until the Obama administration had Iran faced sanctions with serious bite. The administration has managed to build a wide and deep international coalition against Iran, writes Alireza Nader.
Periodical
With 2012 seeing dozens of presidential elections around the globe and several additional leadership transitions, RAND experts offer observations on some of the nations in flux.
Periodical
Kirkuk is Iraq's most combustible hotspot. There are important steps that either U.S. presidential candidate, if elected, should take to move Iraqis toward a settlement over the ethnically mixed city's political and legal status.
Periodical
Conflict with China is unlikely so long as the United States retains the capacity to deter behavior that could lead to a clash.
Commentary
Even if the rebels ultimately prevail, if the U.S. continues to sit on the sidelines as the human toll rises, it could face a decidedly anti-American government in Damascus whether jihadists come to power or not, writes Julie Taylor.
Commentary
Going forward, it's clear the security plan for the U.S. diplomatic presence abroad must include well-developed strategies to both detect and prevent an assault like the one in Libya before it occurs, writes William Young.
Commentary
Panetta's visit should make clear that China's lawless domestic behavior will not be allowed to be repeated abroad, because if it is, it could lead to armed conflict between China and the U.S.-Japan alliance, writes Scott Harold.
Report
Lessons learned from past cases of local defense forces used in the context of counterinsurgency—in Indochina, Algeria, South Vietnam, Oman, El Salvador, Southern Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Iraq—can be applied to the current development of the Afghan Local Police.
Commentary
Like the rest of Afghanistan, these children are so easy to love, but for some so hard. And, like the rest of Afghanistan, they are largely as we have made them, through a combination of kicking and kindness that has bred dependence and resentment, without leaving much of substance, writes Rebecca Zimmerman.
Commentary
Libya is neither Iraq nor Afghanistan, let alone Somalia. It has much going for it that these post-conflict cases did not, including relatively unified citizens, wealth, a neighborhood comparatively conducive to stability, and a clear victory over the former regime, writes Christopher Chivvis.
Commentary
Qaddafi is gone, but if violence spreads, it could call into question the no-footprint post-conflict model that the United States and its allies chose after last year's intervention, writes Christopher S. Chivvis.
Report
Since World War II, the United States has relied on a global network of military bases and forces to protect its interests and those of its allies. But the international environment has changed greatly and economic concerns have risen, leading some to debate just what America's role should now be in the world.
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