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.
COMMENTARY
The United States should not pursue sanctions with the intent of changing the regime, but to contain it in order to give Iranians a chance to effect change themselves, writes Alireza Nader.
PROJECT
Understanding the factors influencing economic growth and development is crucial to enhancing the human welfare of a nation. Research and Policy in International Development (RAPID) is a research center committed to fulfilling this objective.
REPORT
Social media was used in the 2009 protests to organize and communicate under government censorship. An anaylsis 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.
PERIODICAL
Stories discuss world demographic trends, Afghan peace prospects, U.S. health care spending, California prisoner reentry, Latin American inequalities, global health, veterans' mental health, highway investments, teacher bonuses, and charter schools.
COMMENTARY
The Vietnam negotiations arose from a U.S. initiative, in response to domestic political imperatives and over repeated objections from the Saigon regime. By contrast, the incipient Afghan process has its roots in that society, not ours, writes James Dobbins.
COMMENTARY
Much has been made over differences between the U.S. and Israeli threat perceptions of Iran, but in fact internal Israeli divisions suggest that the gap may not be as great as some suggest, writes Dalia Dassa Kaye.
REPORT
Climate change, water scarcity, and pandemics are examined for their national security implications and impacts on the global commons. This paper describes four clusters of policy approaches for these complex, interconnected issues and uses suggestive examples to build the case for policy evolution away from fixing problems and toward innovative alternatives, such as anti-fragile systems, that actually benefit from change and uncertainty.
COMMENTARY
For all its bluster, the Iranian regime is more vulnerable than at any time in its 32-year history. Internally, Iran is constrained by deep political divisions, civil strife and a woeful economy, write Alireza Nader and James Dobbins.
REPORT
The United States should engage in activities that increase understanding about how a deterrence relationship between Israel and Iran may evolve, and encourage direct communication between Israelis and Iranians through informal diplomatic channels.
NEWS RELEASE
The United States should engage in activities that increase understanding about how a deterrence relationship between Israel and Iran may evolve, and encourage direct communication between Israelis and Iranians through informal diplomatic channels.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Many scholars and pundits have concluded that the noticeable downturn in U.S.-China relations in 2010 was merely an intermittent low in the broader "high-low" dynamic that characterizes the relationship. This article argues that recent tensions can also be understood as part of larger, macro-level suspicions stemming from the disparate identities that pervade bilateral relations.
COMMENTARY
With his father's support over the last year, Kim Jong-Un has tried to rapidly reshape the North Korean leadership structure, giving him many new subordinates who are untried and lacking experience. Some will clearly make mistakes, writes Bruce Bennett.
COMMENTARY
The Arab Spring demonstrated that leaderless revolutions are difficult to repress or co-opt. Unfortunately, it is also true that leaderless revolts find it difficult to make transition to authority, writes Charles Ries.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Helps to develop an integrated strategy for building partner capacity for stability operations through an analysis of key strategic elements within the context of BPC and stability operations guidance as well as ongoing security cooperation programs.
REPORT
The June 2011 conference titled "Gulf Security in a Region of Dramatic Change: Mutual Equities and Enduring Partnerships" included discussion of the Arab Spring, the prospects for and implications of a more-unified Gulf Cooperation Council, how Gulf militaries and their relationships with the United States may be affected by political changes, how present-day events may influence or alter the threat posed by Iran, and how CENTCOM may be…
MULTIMEDIA
In this December 2011 Congressional Briefing, Gery Ryan discusses policy options and recommendations on how to most effectively fund HIV treatment initiatives throughout the world.
COMMENTARY
By refusing to face more squarely the probability that Iran will eventually acquire a nuclear weapons capability, the American and Israeli governments actually reduce their ability to dissuade Iran from crossing that threshold, writes James Dobbins.
REPORT
This report explores the impact of information and communication technologies in the Middle East and North Africa region. It provides a series of analyses and inputs to the World Bank that intended to help frame their thinking about ICT use in MENA.
REPORT
An attack on Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States or Israel would make it more, not less difficult to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions. The sympathy aroused for Iran would make containment of Iranian influence much more difficult for Israel, for the U.S., and for the Arab regimes currently allied with Washington.
NEWS RELEASE
An attack on Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States or Israel would make it more, not less difficult to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions. The sympathy aroused for Iran would make containment of Iranian influence much more difficult for Israel, for the U.S., and for the Arab regimes currently allied with Washington.
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