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Hot Topics

Here we cover an expanded range topics that are currently in the news or relevant to the public policy debate. Each page provides further summaries and links to related RAND research and commentary.

Hot Topic Folder Afghanistan

Hot Topic Folder China

Hot Topic Folder Climate Change

Hot Topic Folder Counterinsurgency

Hot Topic Folder Emergency Preparedness and Response

Hot Topic Folder Globalization

Hot Topic Folder Health Care Access and Quality

Hot Topic Folder Iran

Hot Topic Folder Iraq

Hot Topic Folder Nation-Building and Diplomacy

Hot Topic Folder NATO and Europe

Hot Topic Folder No Child Left Behind and Student Achievement

Hot Topic Folder Nuclear Weapons

Hot Topic Folder Obesity in America

Hot Topic Folder Pakistan

Hot Topic Folder Policing

Hot Topic Folder The Presidential Transition

Hot Topic Folder Russia

Hot Topic Folder Social Issues in Islamic Countries

Hot Topic Folder Turkey

Current Features

While Piracy and Terrorism at Sea Grow, Scant Evidence That They're Merging — Nov. 19, 2008

piracy sea terrorism navy

Acts of piracy and terrorism at sea are on the rise, but there is little evidence to support concerns from some governments and international organizations that pirates and terrorists are beginning to collude with one another.

Obama's First International Crisis — Nov. 16, 2008

Barack Obama speaks before U.S. flag

When Sen. Joe Biden observed during the presidential campaign that a new President Barack Obama "will be tested by an international crisis within his first six months in power," he was on solid historical ground, writes Brian Jenkins.

Talk to the Taliban? Not Now — Nov. 11, 2008

a Taliban captured by soldiers in Afghanistan, photo courtesy of Army/J. Wagner

As new U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus got a firsthand look at the worsening security situation in Afghanistan last week, he heard from some U.S., British and Afghan officials that the best way forward is to engage in peace talks with the Taliban. Such talks have already even tentatively begun. This is a bad idea.

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