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Report
Air Force range managers schedule the infrastructure and airspace needed for realistic testing and training activities, which requires adequate information about the proposed maneuvers, the acceptable context, and understanding of the goals.
Commentary
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.
Report
Describes a methodology for identifying areas where problem events are more pronounced and directing resources toward those areas.
Commentary
Of the plots foiled in the last 10 years on U.S. soil, the would-be terrorists came from many different ethnic groups. We know of no cases where ethnic profiling helped stop a terrorist plot, write John Hollywood and Kevin J. Strom.
Commentary
A truly monumental attack that could cripple key U.S. computer systems — something akin to the Stuxnet worms attack on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, for example — would take many months of planning, significant expertise, and a great deal of money to pull off, writes Isaac Porche.
Report
Testimony presented before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Power on May 5, 2011.
Commentary
There may be some spontaneous acts by individuals enraged by Bin Laden's death who are inspired to follow him into martyrdom. But these are the spasms of reaction, not planned retaliatory operations, and will not demonstrate that Al Qaeda can survive Bin Laden, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.
Multimedia
Brian Michael Jenkins, senior adviser at the RAND Corporation, spoke with RAND media relations director Jeffrey Hiday about the death of Osama bin Laden and how it might affect al Qaeda, the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan, and more.
Report
Even before the killing of Osama bin Laden, with the growing instability across the Arab world, some argued that the primary al Qa'ida threat now comes from the Persian Gulf or North Africa. While these regions certainly present a threat to Western security, al Qa'ida's primary command and control structure remains situated in Pakistan.
Commentary
If some measure of democracy does result, the elected governments likely will reflect the popular antipathy that the "Arab street" has for both the United States and Israel, writes David Aaron.
Journal Article
In this paper, we describe a methodology for measuring a region's exposure to infrastructure-related risks that captures both a community's concentration of facilities or sites considered to be vulnerable and of the proximity of these facilities to surrounding infrastructure systems.
Commentary
The Taliban view incarceration foremost as a means to attract new recruits and enhance the jihadist resolve and ideological purity of their own members, writes Arturo Munoz.
Past Event
Admiral Thad Allen will discuss his experiences leading the nation's high-profile responses to national emergencies ranging from the September 11th terrorist attacks to Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill.
Report
Passwords are proving less and less capable of protecting computer systems from abuse. Multifactor authentication (MFA) — which combines something you know (e.g., a PIN), something you have (e.g., a token), and/or something you are (e.g., a fingerprint) — is increasingly being required. This report investigates why organizations choose to adopt or not adopt MFA — and where they choose to use it.
Report
The author explores air travel security performance since 9/11, identifies missed opportunities and innovations, and considers potential next steps.
Report
Unstable and violent political environments often give rise to a range of complex problems for peaceful development. RAND Europe reviewed the state of the art in monitoring and evaluation in stabilization environments and found ways to improve practice.
Report
Cloud computing is a model for enabling on-demand network access to a shared pool of computing resources—such as storage and applications—that can be rapidly provisioned with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. RAND Europe explored the security, privacy, and trust challenges that cloud computing poses.
Research Brief
Reviews the state of the art in monitoring and evaluation of stabilisation operations and suggests ways forward.
Project
The sustained ability of a community to withstand and recover from adversity, at both the infrastructure and human levels, is a key policy issue. This project asks, what are the key levers for building and strengthening community resilience and what specific activities can communities undertake?
Report
NGOs are instrumental in communities' resilience to natural and man-made disasters, but the plans and processes for their involvement are not well-defined. RAND-convened sessions at the 2010 LANO conference identified challenges to engaging NGOs and recommendations for addressing these challenges.
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