2012-05-24T14:22:55Z Copyright (c) 2012, The RAND Corporation RAND Corporation http://www.rand.org/topics/intelligence-community.html http://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/2012/spring/tweets.html May 11, 2012 May 11, 2012

Twitter and other social media reportedly played a big role in the protests following the 2009 Iranian presidential election. Analysis of word usage in millions of tweets about the election and its aftermath reveals that spikes in the use of swear words could forecast the outbreak of large-scale protests.

http://www.rand.org/news/press/2012/05/03.html May 3, 2012 May 3, 2012

The U.S. Department of Defense will receive more detailed, transparent and credible assessments of its counterinsurgency campaigns by replacing its top-down approach with a bottom-up method driven by contextual, narrative reporting provided by commanders on the ground.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1086.html May 3, 2012 May 3, 2012

The U.S. Department of Defense will receive more detailed, transparent, and credible assessments of its counterinsurgency campaigns by replacing its top-down approach with a bottom-up method driven by contextual, narrative reporting provided by commanders on the ground.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9645.html Apr 13, 2012 Apr 13, 2012

Current processes used by the U.S. military do not provide accurate assessments of counterinsurgency campaigns. A new process that adds transparency and context to assessments would make them more credible and useful at all levels of decisionmaking.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/conf_proceedings/CF287.html Mar 9, 2012 Mar 9, 2012

These proceedings present the topics and findings discussed at a July 2010 workshop convened to examine how consumers of intelligence might be better served by analysis whose focus is longer term or more strategic than the current reporting that dominates today's intelligence production. An appendix presents relevant lessons from the private sector.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1133.html Mar 6, 2012 Mar 6, 2012

The information explosion resulting from vast amounts of new motion imagery threatens to leave Air Force intelligence analysts drowning in data. One approach to meeting this challenge is to implement certain process changes and adopt a new organizational construct to improve the effectiveness of Air Force intelligence analysts while confronting the reality of limited resources.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR955.html Feb 2, 2012 Feb 2, 2012

The Air Force has a continuing interest in reducing high attrition and training-block failure (washback) rates, as both increase training and recruiting costs. This report describes research into these issues for nine career fields.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1161.html Jan 17, 2012 Jan 17, 2012

Social media was used in the 2009 protests to organize and communicate under government censorship. An analysis of more than 2.5 million tweets discussing the Iran election holds promise for such policy uses as assessing public opinion and forecasting events such as large-scale protests.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1014.html Jan 12, 2012 Jan 12, 2012

Freedom of movement (FoM) is the actual or perceived degree to which individuals or groups can move from place to place within a given environment or into and out of that environment. Focusing specifically on Afghanistan, this examination considers actual and perceived FoM for a range of groups and profiles the factors that influence them and affect data reporting in potentially misleading ways.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP342.html Dec 22, 2011 Dec 22, 2011

It has become clear that Stuxnet-like worms pose a serious threat even to critical U.S. infrastructure and computer systems that are not connected to the Internet. However, defending against such attacks involves complex technological and legal issues.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9628.html Dec 5, 2011 Dec 5, 2011

Describes a framework for thinking about commanders' critical information needs in countersurgency operations and offers practical ways for commanders to integrate influence activities into combined arms planning and assessment.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1111z2.html Sep 7, 2011 Sep 7, 2011

This book examines six case studies of insurgencies from around the world to determine the key factors necessary for a successful transition from counterinsurgency to a more stable situation. The authors review the causes of each insurgency and the key players involved, and examine what the government did right — or wrong — to bring the insurgency to an end and to transition to greater stability.

http://www.rand.org/news/press/2011/08/31.html Aug 31, 2011 Aug 31, 2011

Despite al Qaeda's increasing use of the Internet to attempt to radicalize and recruit homegrown terrorists in the United States, the turnout has been tiny and mostly inept.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP343.html Aug 31, 2011 Aug 31, 2011

Despite al Qaeda's increasing use of the Internet to attempt to radicalize and recruit homegrown terrorists in the United States, the turnout has been tiny and mostly inept.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP318.html Aug 10, 2011 Aug 10, 2011

The existing subnational government across Afghanistan is too centralized and weak to fulfill two basic requirements of legitimacy: effective service provision and representation. Opportunities for improvement are outlined for international actors hoping to strengthen local government in recently cleared areas.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP327.html Jul 21, 2011 Jul 21, 2011

Former Taliban and other insurgents provide an invaluable source of information on their previous colleagues, and can ultimately cause momentum to shift toward counterinsurgent forces. Steps can be taken to increase the likelihood of reintegrating fighters into their communities.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1108.html Jul 13, 2011 Jul 13, 2011

Over the past decade, U.S. Marine Corps intelligence has had to tailor its organization to meet the evolving demands of the operational environment. A broad review of its design examined how to align it efficiently and effectively with current and future missions and functions.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR885.html Jun 1, 2011 Jun 1, 2011

Universal Core (UCore) 2.0 is a Department of Defense (DoD) and intelligence community information exchange framework that can improve interoperability between DoD information systems. This report reviews UCore pilot programs, implementation issues, and bandwidth demands and identifies issues that should be addressed before UCore implementation is mandated for DoD programs.

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2011/05/25/PM.html May 25, 2011 May 25, 2011

Questions not asked or stories not imagined by policy are not likely to be answered or developed by intelligence, writes Gregory F. Treverton.

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2011/05/12/NJ.html May 12, 2011 May 12, 2011

Wary of communicating with each other and with al Qaeda's field commands, al Qaeda central could become more isolated, more dependent on its affiliates, allied groups, and individual acolytes, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.