The RAND Blog

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Five Years After the Death of Osama bin Laden, Is the World Safer?

What effect did killing bin Laden have on al Qaeda's ability to pursue its jihadist goals? Does high-value targeting contribute to counterterrorist strategy more broadly? Does killing terrorist leaders work?

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

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Strong Winds Ahead for Cloud Computing: Can Data Localization Threaten Future Growth?

A growing number of constraints have been imposed around the world on information in the cloud, fueling concerns that the Internet, the economic engine of the information age, may become hopelessly fragmented.

Marlon Graf, Jakub P. Hlavka, et al.

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Science and the Healing Arts

Americans spend billions of dollars out of pocket seeking relief from chronic conditions in alternative schools of health, such as acupuncture or chiropractic. What would it take to more fully integrate such practices into the mainstream?

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Obama Should Visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki

During his upcoming visit to Japan, President Obama will have an opportunity to do something that none of his predecessors have ever done: visit the first and last cities to suffer atomic bombings.

Scott W. Harold

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Will the Arctic Remain a Warm Spot in Chilly U.S.-Russia Relations?

The United States should continue with its policy of engagement with Russia within Arctic institutions. This is the only way to keep building on a track record of successful agreements that make the Arctic safer for all.

Stephanie Pezard @StephaniePezard, Abbie Tingstad

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Improving School Leadership: What Works

There is evidence that having strong school leaders is instrumental for improving the quality of teaching. But resource constraints and pressure to spend money directly on students have left interventions focused on principals largely overlooked. However, the new Every Student Succeeds Act may be changing the script.

Rebecca Herman, Susan M. Gates

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Public Funding of Medical Research Pays for Itself

Public and charity spending on medical research in the UK stimulates the private sector to spend more on R&D, not less. Each pound of public funding leads to an additional 99 pence investment from the private sector.

Jon Sussex

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In Pittsburgh, a Day of Giving

All funds that RAND raises on May 3 through Pittsburgh's Day of Giving will be devoted to RAND's work taking place in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Susan M. Sohler Everingham

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What Is Being Done in Europe to Get Mothers Back to Work?

Helping mothers get back to work has many benefits. It supports women's economic independence, helps reduce the gender pay gap, and boosts the economy. Perhaps most importantly, it could keep more children out of poverty.

Emma Harte, Joanna Hofman @JoannaBHofman

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Presence vs. Warfighting: A Looming Dilemma in Defense Planning

Presence involves global military deployments to counter potential aggressors, reassure allies, underwrite extended deterrence, build partner capacity, and more. It is now as important, in terms of its stabilizing and deterrent effect, as warfighting capabilities. Yet U.S. force posture falls short.

Michael J. Mazarr @MMazarr

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Special Ops Women: A Conversation with Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Best-selling author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon discusses how recent conflicts changed the role of U.S. military women, the missing story about women in uniform, and more.

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What Do Stakeholders Say About Comparative-Effectiveness Research?

Insurers, employers, and industry are some of the stakeholder groups that are critical to the success of comparative-effectiveness research. Current research models may not provide stakeholders with all the information they need to support their involvement.

Thomas W. Concannon @tconcannon, Virginia Kotzias, et al.

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Study Finds Most Military Families Are Resilient in Face of Deployment

Despite the fact that service members, spouses, and their children experience frequent deployments to combat zones throughout the world, a recent study of more than 2,700 military families found that they generally fare well and adapt effectively to the stresses of deployment.

Sarah O. Meadows @SarahOMeadows, Benjamin Karney

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Understanding and Addressing the Unaccompanied Minor Immigration Issue

The number of unaccompanied child immigrants apprehended at the U.S. southwest border is on the rise again, the majority of them coming not from Mexico, but from Central America. Research could provide valuable information to policymakers as they try to find ways to help young immigrants.

Ernesto F. L. Amaral, Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein

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Outnumbered, Outranged, and Outgunned: How Russia Defeats NATO

Today NATO is outnumbered, outranged, and outgunned by Russia in Europe and beset by a number of compounding factors that make the situation worse. But it is possible to begin restoring a more robust deterrent posture and to do so at a price tag that appears affordable.

David A. Shlapak, Michael Johnson