Diplomacy, the practice of international relations, is an area in which RAND has significant research experience. Among RAND's many experts are former ambassadors whose research and commentary on both long-term efforts and current events shed light on how diplomatic ventures can be integral to national security goals and activities, including traditional military interventions, nuclear arms control, and nation-building efforts.
To help U.S. policymakers and Middle East watchers better understand voting patterns in Egypt, RAND researchers identified regional voting trends and where Islamists are strongest. It appears they may face increasing challenges.
U.S. embassies shored up security in the wake of the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Going forward, the security plan for the U.S. diplomatic presence abroad must include strategies to detect and prevent such attacks before they occur.
The evolution of the U.S. global defense posture from 1783 to the present offers important lessons for dealing with similar problems in the future.
Among security considerations for diplomatic missions abroad is the amount and type of support provided by the host government, the method for acquiring knowledge of what is happening outside the embassy in the surrounding neighborhoods, and the actual structure of the buildings and layout of the diplomatic compound.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic political movement that heads the national government in Egypt, faces a generational divide that poses significant challenges to the group as it works to extend its role in Egyptian society.
When the Soviet Union posed an existential threat to America, there was no room for mistakes. Secretary of Defense Harold Brown, under President Carter, called on his former experience as Secretary of the Air Force (under LBJ in the Vietnam War), as director of Livermore Laboratory, and as director of U.S. Defense Research and Engineering (under Kennedy) to deter the Soviets during the Cold War. Brown's new memoir gives an insider's view.
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.
Presents an assessment of the Defense Language Institute English Language Center (DLIELC), which trains foreign nationals in English prior to their attending U.S. military education and training courses.
Past efforts to resolve ethno-territorial conflicts in Brčko, Mostar, Northern Ireland, and Jerusalem provide insights that could facilitate a negotiated settlement of the status of the disputed Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
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.
The June 2011 conference titled ''Gulf Security in a Region of Dramatic Change: Mutual Equities and Enduring Partnerships'' focused on the security implications of a rapidly changing Gulf region and their potential effects on CENTCOM.
Employs an expected utility model to predict how Iranian policy is developing on several key issues and explores US strategy and policy options for influencing their development.
Security cooperation is not unique to the United States, and when interests coincide, joint efforts and lesson-sharing are beneficial.
Using RAND's security cooperation framework, RAND assessed the U.S. Air Force's Building Partnerships Seminars to enhance program objectives and improve cooperation amongst partner-nation air forces.
Brochure for a week-long, intensive course designed for staff and advisors of African First Ladies to develop strategies to manage an effective First Lady's Office and to improve executive decisionmaking through a policy-analysis framework.
A sustained focus on Afghanistan at all levels of the U.S. government is needed for the United States to make the most of its limited influence on the complex Afghan peace process.
Continuing tensions between Arab and Kurdish communities in Iraq could lead to inadvertent armed conflict unless Iraqi leaders resolve outstanding disputes regarding federalism, the legal and political status of disputed territories, and the management of northern Iraq's oil and gas resources.
If "strategic communication" as a term is too vague or becomes politically untenable, abandon it. Just do not allow the underlying effort to coordinate government impact on the information environment to be lost too.
This paper presents a theory of natural alliances in which commonalities in political culture are a strategic asset for better coordination and greater predictability among partners. It applies this theory to the case of the US-European alliance.
Dissuading Iran from developing nuclear weapons faces major obstacles, but it's too soon to give up trying as it may still be possible to influence the outcome of Iran's internal political debate.
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