David Young is an M.Phil. student at the RAND School of Public Policy and an assistant policy researcher at RAND. His research agenda centers on U.S. national security, societal resilience, and geopolitical strategic competition, with a focus on the drivers of organizational membership within non-state security groups.
Young utilizes a mixed-methods research framework, integrating qualitative discourse analysis and process tracing with statistical modeling in IBM SPSS and STATA. His methodological approach is further informed by his background in archival research, where he has examined mid-20th-century diplomatic and strategic relations through historical records and institutional archives.
Prior to joining RAND, Young was a paralegal at a San Francisco law firm, where he supported commercial litigation and real property disputes through research and database management. He holds an M.A. with distinction in violence, terrorism, and security from Queen’s University Belfast and a B.A. in history from the University of California, Berkeley.
Education
M.A. in political science, Queen's University Belfast; B.A. in history, University of California-Berkeley