Beth Grill

Senior Policy Researcher; Professor of Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Pittsburgh Office

Education

M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies and Economics, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies; B.A. in international studies, Johns Hopkins University

One Page Bio

Overview

Beth Grill is a senior policy researcher at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Specializing in national security policy,her research focuses on security cooperation, partner nation assessment, special operations, global health engagement, and strategic planning. She has led a series of key research studies on security cooperation funding, metrics, and evaluation for the Department of the Air Force, the United States Navy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, and the Combatant Commands. Grill is the author of over 70 RAND publications. Her most recent reports address topics relating to partner nation support for medical operations, Air Force contributions to security cooperation, Naval theater security cooperation in Africa, and Special Operations Forces in strategic competition. Grill has a Master's degree in Middle East studies and Economics from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. She served as a Presidential Management Fellow and as a policy analyst at the US Department of Commerce, where she concentrated on export controls of chemical and biological weapons precursors.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

Global Health Engagement Funding
Enhancing Partner Support for Medical Operations in Denied Environments
Measuring Air Force Contributions to Security Cooperation
Potential Contribution of Partner Nations to Support Air Operations in Major Combat Operations in the Indo-Pacific
Overcoming Barriers to Collaborating with Allies and Partners

Selected Publications

Grill, Beth, Michael J. McNerney, Jeremy Boback, Renanah Miles Joyce, Cynthia C. Clapp-Wincek, and David E. Thaler, Follow the Money: Promoting Greater Transparency in Department of Defense Security Cooperation Reporting, RAND Corporation (RR-2039-OSD), 2017

Brad Martin, Beth Grill, and Nathan Vest, Naval Forces Africa Theater Security Cooperation: Approaches to Assessing Value in Global Power Competition , (RR-A1051-1,), 2022

Beth Grill, Christopher Paul, Michael Schwille, Karen M. Sudkamp, Jonathan Balk, Special Operations Forces in Strategic Competition: Overcoming Barriers in Authorities, Policies, and Processes for Non-Lethal Operations, Activities, and Investments , RAND (RR-A1463-1) (forthcoming)

David E. Thaler, Beth Grill, Jefferson P. Marquis, Jennifer D.P. Moroney, Christine Kistler LaCoste, Jonathan Welch, Emmi Yonekura, Jalen Zeman, Measuring Department of the Air Force Contributions to Security Cooperation: A Construct for Assessment, Monitoring, and Evaluation, RAND (RR-A598-1), 2022

Michael J. Mazarr, Nathan Beauchamp-Mustafaga, Jonah Blank, Sam Charap, Michael Chase, Beth Grill, et al, , Security Cooperation in a Strategic Competition, RAND (-RR-A650-1), 2022

Moroney, Jennifer D. P., Stephanie Pezard, David E. Thaler, Gene Germanovich, Beth Grill, Bruce McClintock, Karen Schwindt, Mary Kate Adgie, Anika Binnendijk, Kevin J. Connolly, Katie Feistel, Jeffrey W. Hornung, Alison K. Hottes, Moon Kim, Isabelle Nazha, Gabrielle Tarini, Mark Toukan, and Jalen Zeman, "Overcoming Barriers to Working with Highly Capable Allies and Partners in the Air, Space, and Cyber Domains: An Exploratory Analysis," The Strategist, 2023

Honors & Awards

Journal Article of the Year (2013) for "Qualitative Comparative Analysis of 30 Insurgencies" with Christopher Paul and Colin Clarke, Military Operations and Research Society (MORS)

Commentary

Security Cooperation

Australian and U.S. Military Health Professionals Can Help Address Pacific Island Needs
Australia and the United States can combine their military health capabilities to help improve the long-term health security of Pacific island countries. These partnerships should be carefully planned and focus on enduring engagement.
May 5, 2021
The Strategist

Publications

Report
Funding Global Health Engagement to Support the Geographic Combatant Commands
The authors identify the evolving global health engagement (GHE) priorities of five of the six geographic commands and the challenges they face supporting their combatant command objectives with current funding sources for GHE activities.
Jul 11, 2023
Report
Overcoming Barriers to Working with Highly Capable Allies and Partners in the Air, Space, and Cyber Domains: An Exploratory Analysis
In this report, the authors consider how the United States can enhance engagement with highly capable allies and partners to improve interoperability by identifying some of the main barriers to security cooperation with these countries.
Jul 5, 2023
Report
Security Cooperation in a Strategic Competition
In this study, RAND researchers examined the current role of security cooperation efforts as a tool in the emerging strategic competition among the United States, Russia, and China.
Apr 6, 2022
Report
Prioritizing Security Cooperation with Highly Capable U.S. Allies: Framing Army-to-Army Partnerships
In this report, researchers present recommendations for enabling the U.S. Army to better prioritize and coordinate its security cooperation activities with its allies for coalition operations and engagements in third countries.
Mar 1, 2022
Commentary
Managing International Borders: Balancing Security with the Licit Flow of People and Goods
This Perspective builds on global best practices and lessons learned from other established border management solutions and proposes opportunities to strengthen security while improving the flow of travelers and goods.
May 9, 2018
Report
Factoring Security Cooperation into Core U.S. Air Force Decisionmaking Processes: Incorporating Impact in Planning, Programming, and Capability Development
This report reviews two core U.S. Air Force decisionmaking processes to determine the extent to which decisionmakers consider security cooperation impact and to recommend ways to make such considerations systematic and explicit.
Apr 19, 2018
Report
Follow the Money: Promoting Greater Transparency in Department of Defense Security Cooperation Reporting
This report analyzes the obstacles that the Department of Defense (DoD) faces in tracking security cooperation spending and provides recommendations for streamlining DoD's reporting process to meet new requirements for transparency.
Sep 19, 2017
Journal Article
Moving Beyond Population-Centric Vs. Enemy-Centric Counterinsurgency
Historically, insurgency is one of the most prevalent forms of armed conflict and it is likely to remain common in the foreseeable future.
Oct 31, 2016
Report
The Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (CFE-DMHA): An Assessment of Roles and Missions
This report examines the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance's history, activities, and roles to determine how its missions can best be performed to achieve the Department of Defense's objectives in this domain.
May 16, 2016
Report
From Patchwork to Framework: A Review of Title 10 Authorities for Security Cooperation
This report develops a framework and options to streamline the patchwork of authorities in Public Law and Title 10 of the U.S. Code that the Department of Defense employs in the planning and execution of security cooperation with foreign partners.
Mar 2, 2016
Report
A Building Partner Capacity Assessment Framework: Tracking Inputs, Outputs, Outcomes, Disrupters, and Workarounds
This report presents a framework intended to help with planning for building partner capacity events, monitoring progress while the effort is in progress, and assessing results.
Aug 21, 2015
Report
What Works Best When Building Partner Capacity in Challenging Contexts?
This report explores what the United States can do in challenging capacity-building contexts to maximize prospects for success, focusing on potential challenges and workarounds and deriving recommendations for future engagements.
Aug 21, 2015
Tool
The RAND Security Cooperation Prioritization and Propensity Matching Tool
RAND research identified practices and factors associated with success in security cooperation. A related diagnostic tool can help defense planners identify mismatches between funding, priorities, and propensity for success with a given country.
Nov 6, 2013
Report
Counterinsurgency Scorecard: Afghanistan in Early 2013 Relative to Insurgencies Since World War II
Previous RAND research on historical insurgencies found that a conflict's overall balance of good and bad factors and practices perfectly discriminated its outcome. A RAND study applied this scorecard approach to Afghanistan in early 2013.
Oct 7, 2013
Journal Article
Between Large-N and Small-N Analyses: Historical Comparison of Thirty Insurgency Case Studies
The authors study the 30 insurgencies occurring between 1978 and 2008 using four methods crossing the qualitative/quantitative divide.
Oct 1, 2013
Report
Paths to Victory: Lessons from Modern Insurgencies
Building on a 2010 RAND study of the 30 insurgencies begun and completed between 1978 and 2008, this study added 41 new cases to the data set, allowing comparisons across all 71 insurgencies begun and completed worldwide since World War II.
Sep 26, 2013
Report
Paths to Victory: Detailed Insurgency Case Studies
This companion volume to Paths to Victory: Lessons from Modern Insurgencies offers in-depth case studies of 41 insurgencies since World War II. Each case breaks the conflict into phases and examines the trajectory that led to the outcome.
Sep 26, 2013
Report
What Works Best When Building Partner Capacity and Under What Circumstances?
A RAND study collected and compared 20 years of data on 29 historical case studies to identify how the U.S. Department of Defense can increase the effectiveness of efforts to build partner security and military capacity.
Jan 28, 2013
Journal Article
Qualitative Comparative Analysis of 30 Insurgencies, 1978-2008
Useful recommendations for US engagement in and support for COIN operations.
2012
Report
How Successful Are U.S. Efforts to Build Capacity in Developing Countries? A Framework to Assess the Global Train and Equip "1206" Program
The Global Train and Equip
Sep 14, 2011
Journal Article
Victory Has a Thousand Fathers: Evidence of Effective Approaches to Counterinsurgency, 1978-2008
Good COIN practices tend to "run in packs" and the balance of selected good and bad practices predicts insurgency outcomes.
Jan 17, 2011
Report
Victory Has a Thousand Fathers: Sources of Success in Counterinsurgency
An examination of approaches to counterinsurgency from 30 recent resolved campaigns reveals that good COIN practices tend to ''run in packs'' and that the balance of selected good and bad practices perfectly predicts the outcome of a conflict.
Jun 18, 2010
Report
Victory Has a Thousand Fathers: Detailed Counterinsurgency Case Studies
Narratives on the 30 most recent resolved insurgencies, covering the period 1978 to 2008, and data on 76 factors hypothesized to be related to the success of counterinsurgency forces supplement analyses of historical and contemporary insurgencies.
Jun 18, 2010
Report
Developing an Assessment Framework for U.S. Air Force Building Partnerships Programs
Working with allies in a security cooperation context to build their defense capacity, acquire or maintain access to their territory for potential operations, and strengthen relationships with their air forces is a valuable U.S. Air Force activity.
Feb 2, 2010
Report
International Cooperation with Partner Air Forces
Some important U.S. goals include maintaining international cooperation with partner countries, devising programs to satisfy U.S. strategic imperatives for a region, and enhancing the security of partner countries.
Mar 20, 2009
Journal Article
Identifying Urban Flashpoints: A Delphi-Derived Model for Scoring Cities' Vulnerability to Large-Scale Unrest
This article presents a method for the assessment of cities' vulnerability to large-scale urban unrest. Results include a tool that will allow users to rank cities on their vulnerability to large-scale urban unrest.
2008
Research Brief
Can Publicly Available Information Be Used in Planning Terrorist Attacks?
This fact sheet describes a framework for assessing the availability of publicly available information for planning attacks on the U.S. air, rail, and sea transportation infrastructure and the results of applying the framework in a red-team exercise.
Aug 1, 2007
Report
Freedom and Information: Assessing Publicly Available Data Regarding U.S. Transportation Infrastructure Security
Describes a framework to guide assessments of the availability of data regarding U.S. anti- and counterterrorism systems, countermeasures, and defenses for planning attacks on the U.S. air, rail, and sea transportation infrastructure.
Jul 18, 2007
Research Brief
Building Partner Capacity Is the Key to a Successful Counterinsurgency Strategy
This research brief examines ways the U.S. Air Force can contribute to allies' conterinsurgency efforts by providing advice; education; and, when necessary, physical and technological assistance to partner-nation air forces.
Aug 31, 2006
Report
Air Power in the New Counterinsurgency Era: The Strategic Importance of USAF Advisory and Assistance Missions
History shows that an afflicted nation must itself defeat an insurgency politically and militarily, and the best way to help is to offer advice, training, and equipment.
Aug 16, 2006
Research Brief
Unweaving a Tangled Web: Local Trends and Regional Challenges in Allegheny County
Key findings:--The economies of Pittsburgh and other communities in Allegheny County depend on each other, especially from an employment perspective. --On average, only 13 percent of the residents work in the same town where they live. --For 114 muni...
Nov 25, 2005
Report
Measuring and Understanding Economic Interdependence in Allegheny County
A powerful descriptive analysis of the wealth flows in Allegheny County, this report provides timely and critical information regarding public policy issues affecting a region that includes the City of Pittsburgh.
Dec 13, 2004