RAND is a world leader in research on terrorism, counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and homeland security—topics that affect a wide variety of policy areas and challenge individuals and nations worldwide. As a public service, RAND disseminates all its unclassified research online or in printed documents.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Theoretical models and survey and administrative data show that deployment during the war on terrorism has had positive or no effects on military reenlistment but a negative effect for Army personnel deployed for a high cumulative number of months.
REPORT
RAND Arroyo Center examined the question of how the Army can help make key civilian agencies more capable partners in stability, security, transition, and reconstruction operations. Even without much action at the national level, the Army can still improve civilian participation in these activities.
NEWS RELEASE
The valuable roles that nongovernmental organizations can play in helping communities recover from disasters such as Hurricane Katrina are not well-defined in federal, state or local policies. Changing emergency planning rules to make nongovernmental organizations a key component of recovery efforts could get them involved earlier and speed the full recovery of communities after disaster strikes.
REPORT
Experiences from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita showed that current emergency preparedness plans are inadequate to address the unique issues of special needs populations. This toolkit distills the most relevant emergency preparedness strategies, practices, and resources for these populations. It includes a Web-based Geographic Information Systems tool to identify and enumerate those with special needs in communities across the United States.
REPORT
Presents tools for assessing state/local health departments' capability to rapidly deliver medical countermeasures in response to a public health emergency; provides a framework for determining which elements of the capability to assess; describes procedures for the five assessments developed; summarizes methods and findings from field tests; and identifies next steps and policy implications.
COMMENTARY
In hindsight, KGB analysts and Soviet officials were extraordinarily prescient about the perils of Islamist terrorism and the fallout from the Afghan jihad. But could Russia, for all its faults and foibles, be a more valuable counterterrorism partner today, asks Brian Michael Jenkins.
REPORT
Large multinational corporations (MNCs) can play significant roles in zones of violent conflict, including in counterinsurgency. While the activities of MNCs aimed at shaping their violent environments may only be intended to protect their infrastructure and personnel, they can have less-than-benign consequences.
REPORT
Describes a tool for assessing key features of good crisis decision making that focuses on the processes of decision making: situational awareness, action planning, and process control. It was developed based on a literature review, review of after action reports, meetings with subject-matter experts, and observation of exercises. The tool is best suited for exploratory analysis and process improvement.
REPORT
Improving public health emergency preparedness tops the national agenda but has been hindered by the lack of real-world situations to learn from. The Federal Government, therefore, asked RAND to facilitate the development of a research agenda that would expand the evidence base upon which preparedness policies are based.
REPORT
The RAND Frederick S. Pardee Center for Longer Range Global Policy and the Future Human Condition recently hosted a workshop that gave analysts and policymakers from many countries a collaborative opportunity to explore new methods and tools that can help improve long-term decisionmaking.
REPORT
Being able to understand why terrorist attacks have failed and to predict the likelihood of which will succeed is important for homeland security and counterterrorism planning. Literature on the topic suggests that the threat of any terrorist operation can best be evaluated by examining three key sets of characteristics.
REPORT
Presents a methodology to design strategies for detecting terrorist weapon development and shows how it might be used to detect development of improvised explosive devices and radiological dispersal devices.
COMMENTARY
The rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan is now President Barack Obama's war, one he pledged to win during his election campaign. One of the biggest problems, however, is that since late 2001, the United States has crafted its Afghanistan strategy on a fatally flawed assumption, writes Seth Jones.
REPORT
One under-examined area of public health emergency preparedness concerns incidents involving the release of chemical or radiological substances, which can have serious public health consequences. This report focuses on the roles of the public health service in emergency preparedness and its response to such incidents.
NEWS RELEASE
At the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Coalition forces classified the Mujahedin-e Khalq, a militant organization from Iran with cult-like elements that advocates the overthrow of Iran's current government, as an enemy force. A new study looks at how coalition forces handled this group following the invasion.
REPORT
During the Iraq war, Coalition forces first classified the MeK, an Iranian militant group advocating the overthrow of their government, as enemy combatants operating in Iraq. Following a ceasefire agreement, the U.S. controversially switched their status to civilian. This decision and what should now be done with MeK members is reviewed.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Describes approaches to modernizing the U.S. freight-transportation system that require whole-system modeling, engagement of all stakeholders, and an understanding of the interdependence between local and national costs and benefits.
NEWS RELEASE
Researchers from the RAND Corporation have launched an in-depth study of people who lived in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to gain a better understanding of how they were affected by the hurricane and its aftermath.
REPORT
Longtime Afghanistan expert Seth G. Jones harnesses important new historical research, thousands of declassified government documents, and interviews with prominent figures to reveal how the siphoning of resources to Iraq left Afghanistan vulnerable to a "war of a thousand cuts." He argues for a radically new approach.
COMMENTARY
Before he closes Guantánamo, Obama must take a clear-eyed look at the record – and anticipate the next chapter of the fight against terrorism. What happens to terrorist suspects after they leave the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, asks Aidan Kirby Winn.
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