RAND researchers examine military and national security issues across a broad spectrum — from political dissent and military training to tactical operations and reconstruction efforts — and take a long-term, global perspective. Terrorism, types of warfare, and international intervention are among the many topics RAND explores.
Former Taliban and other insurgents provide an invaluable source of information on their previous colleagues, and can ultimately cause momentum to shift toward counterinsurgent forces. Steps can be taken to increase the likelihood of reintegrating fighters into their communities.
Examines how the United States Air Force can sustain sufficient nuclear skills and experience within the Air Force Nuclear Enterprise.
An analysis of 30 insurgencies worldwide between 1978 and 2008 determined what factors were ultimately correlated with success or defeat. Comparing Afghanistan in early 2011 against this scorecard results in an uncertain outcome for the conflict there, but the findings may help provide additional guidance as operations continue.
We have greatly reduced al Qaeda's capacity for large-scale attacks, but the terrorist
campaign led by al Qaeda may go on for many years. It is fair to call it a war, without implying
that, like America’s past wars, it must have a finite ending.
Prisoner-of-war and detainee operations are a crucial component in the successful prosecution of a conflict — particularly in counterinsurgency operations — and should be upgraded to receive more attention and better advance preparation.
Is powering an ultra-high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle with a laser beam a practical possibility?
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.
Even after the death of Osama bin Laden, al Qa'ida and allied groups continue to present a grave threat to the United States and its allies by overseeing and encouraging terrorist operations, managing a robust propaganda campaign, conducting training, and facilitating financial assistance.
Israel's disappointing performance in its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 did not reflect a "failure of air power," but rather a failure of Israel's political and military leaders to properly assess the enemy, set achievable goals, apply an effective strategy and adequately manage public expectations.
This documented briefing presents the results of a rapid review of the funding landscape for complex trauma research in the UK. Recommendations are made about how to strengthen this niche and orphan area of research.
Analyzes how the Army might use a rotational strategy to reduce equipment in early phases of the Army Force Generation cycle, how changes might be applied to units and equipment, and how changes might affect near- and far-term budgets.
The author explores air travel security performance since 9/11, identifies missed opportunities and innovations, and considers potential next steps.
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.
Army children whose parents have deployed 19 months or more since 2001 score lower on standardized tests than other Army children whose parents have deployed for shorter periods of time.
U.S. defense planning is beset with technology-related problems for force projection, obsolescence of forces and concepts of operations, and the need for a new Asian-Pacific strategy. Finding the way ahead amidst fiscal constraints is challenging.
The Air Force is considering upgrades to the KC-10 in several areas. An assessment of options to upgrade the KC-10 weighed the costs and potential benefits of the upgrades against demands in different types of operations and KC-10 roles.
This functional area analysis lays out the tasks, conditions, and standards for the intratheater airlift fleet, taken from high-level guidance, various operational concepts, and recent operational experience and the key variables for later analyses.
This functional solution analysis assesses changes to current U.S. Air Force operations to determine whether a nonmateriel solution could close the capability gap identified in the functional needs analysis.
This functional needs analysis assesses the ability of current U.S. Air Force assets to deliver the airlift capabilities identified in the functional area analysis.
An exhaustive study of Chinese military sources reveals that a future Chinese air force campaign would, under most likely scenarios, seriously test the United States and its allies in a conflict.
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