RAND conducts a broad array of national security research for the U.S. Department of Defense and allied ministries of defense. RAND's three U.S. federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) explore topics from acquisition and technology to personnel and readiness.
Report
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.
Commentary
Tapper spends too much time providing tactical details of battles and too little offering a nuanced, thoughtful explanation of why the U.S. Army struggled so much in Nuristan, writes Seth G. Jones.
Commentary
In 2014, Afghanistan will hold its third presidential election since the fall of the Taliban. If the country can hold reasonably free and fair elections, and defeated candidates can agree to step aside, Afghanistan has a chance of moving beyond its Soviet legacy, writes Seth G. Jones.
Report
Examines the adequacy of overall Army Training and Leader Development (ALTD) management processes, identifies areas for improvement, and develops directions that the Army could take to improve its ATLD management process.
Blog
The United States can manage a cybercrisis by taking steps to reduce the incentives for other states to step into crisis, by controlling the narrative, understanding the stability parameters of the crises, and trying to manage escalation if conflicts arise.
Commentary
Understanding when the United States should engage in cyberwar and who should approve cyberattacks requires understanding that cyberwar has multiple personalities: operational, strategic, and that great gray area in-between., writes Martin Libicki.
Report
Reviews the Army's achievements in implementing best purchasing and supply management practices and describes how this progress compares with that of leading commercial enterprises.
Report
Examines features of the U.S. Army Reserve and Army National Guard's Employer Partnership Program, which seeks to strengthen relationships with reservists and their civilian employers.
Report
The chances are growing that the United States will find itself in a crisis in cyberspace. Such crises can be managed by taking steps to reduce the incentives for other states to step into crisis, by controlling the narrative, understanding the stability parameters of the crises, and trying to manage escalation if conflicts arise from crises.
Commentary
Iran's inability to sell its oil due to sanctions will not only shrink the resources available to the Guard as a military force, but will crimp the wealth of individual Guard officers. This could erode the Guard's loyalty to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, writes Alireza Nader.
Commentary
As in most war zones and high threat environments, one of the dangers to guard against is complacency...people become accustomed to a certain level of danger and assume that they have everything under control, when in fact they may have not fully thought through the problems posed by an enemy that is continually innovating, writes William Young.
Commentary
The Islamic Republic faces the potential of stronger economic sanctions and even a military strike because of its intransigence in complying with U.N. resolutions on its nuclear program. It also must deal with twin domestic challenges—deepening malaise among the young and increasing tensions among the political elite, writes Alireza Nader.
Commentary
Like it or not, the United States counts among its allies a number of authoritarian Arab countries, and they are essential partners in protecting its interests, writes Seth G. Jones. The normative hope that liberal democracy may flourish in the future must be balanced by the need to work with governments and societies as they exist today.
Journal Article
Understanding how terrorist groups innovate and adapt is key for anticipating future shifts in terrorist threats.
Journal Article
The participation of East Asian militaries (Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea) in international disaster relief is a relatively new phenomenon having many implications that will shape the global landscape of the 21st century.
Journal Article
This study examined the mental health treatment experiences of active-duty U.S. service members who received treatment from primary care or specialty mental health providers.
Journal Article
What are key historical trends in insurgencies? And what do these finding suggest about the future of insurgency? We examine four aspects: causes of insurgency, outside support, strategies, and tactics.
Commentary
A constrictive rule book against direct-action counterterrorism techniques could be in tension with operational realities. But it would go some way toward establishing the legal and ethical framework under which such difficult decisions are made, writes Patrick Johnston.
Blog
At RAND's Politics Aside event, former Saudi Intelligence chief Prince Turki Al Faisal, RAND senior political scientist Seth Jones, and others talk with Reuters columnist David Rohde about strategies for dealing with terrorism.
Commentary
The prudent approach is to decide on a strategic direction that provides a framework for prioritizing which forces and equipment the United States should preserve and determining which can be trimmed or eliminated with limited risk to security, write Stuart Johnson and Irv Blickstein.
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