The RAND Blog

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Winning the Irregular World War

If the United States hopes to prevail in an asymmetrical world war, it must upgrade its abilities to provide self-defense and resistance support to its allies and partners, and better coordinate its disparate efforts to counter Russia and China across departments and agencies.

Alexander Noyes @alexhnoyes, Daniel Egel

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What Israel's Ground Offensive Can—and Cannot—Accomplish

Weeks after terrorist attacks left 1,400 Israelis dead, Israel has started its much-anticipated ground offensive in Gaza. But what can such an operation hope to achieve, and why launch such a campaign now?

Raphael S. Cohen

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Why Are U.S. Military Families Experiencing Food Insecurity?

Around a quarter of active-duty service members qualify as “food insecure.” But what's causing that, how to fix it—even what it means—is not clear. Food insecurity is a multifaceted problem that needs multifaceted solutions.

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Terror and the Secondary Trauma of Social Media

As graphic images from Israel and Gaza proliferate on social media, it is likely that these images are having significant negative impacts on the mental health and well-being of many. Mitigating their impact on global mental health might require making hard choices and doing the work to forge community bonds that prioritize everyone's well-being.

Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung

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Inflection Point: How to Reverse the Erosion of U.S. and Allied Military Power and Influence

U.S. military forces no longer enjoy the kind of comprehensive superiority that was the foundation of victories over adversary states. Re-establishing a credible posture against aggression by highly capable adversaries will call for sustained, coordinated efforts by the United States, its allies, and its key partners to rethink their approaches to defeating aggression and to recast important elements of their military forces and postures.

David A. Ochmanek, Andrew R. Hoehn @AndyHoehn

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The History of Hostage Negotiations Tells Us Empathy Isn't Enough

History offers no prescriptions on how to bargain for human life. The circumstances of each case differ, but lessons can be learned.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

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Disinformation Amid the Israel-Hamas War, U.S. Gun Policy, Cannabis: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how the information war may play out between Israel and Hamas, what the evidence says (and doesn't say) about U.S. gun policy, supply models for recreational cannabis, and more.

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The Black Sea and the Changing Face of Naval Warfare

Uncrewed surface vessel and uncrewed underwater vessel technologies will continue to mature and be employed for an ever-wider range of missions. Today's struggles in the Black Sea may herald a changing face of naval warfare, in which large warships are increasingly vulnerable even to nations that lack substantial navies.

Scott Savitz, William Courtney @courtneywmh

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Japan's Play for Today: Too Much? Just Right? Or Never Enough?

Japan is pushing ahead on a broad array of initiatives meant to strengthen the Self-Defense Forces' deterrent power across multiple domains. But there are bound to be limits in manpower, resources, capacity, or capabilities that will place limits on what the end point of Japan's buildup ultimately looks like.

Jeffrey W. Hornung

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Nations Must Collaborate on AI and Biotech—or Be Left Behind

As two revolutionary technologies—machine learning and gene editing—converge, forward-looking policy is necessary to both mitigate risks and leverage opportunities.

Sana Zakaria @drsana_zak, Timothy Marler

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Lies, Misinformation Play Key Role in Israel-Hamas Fight

At the strategic level, the war in Gaza is about perception, telling a story about who is the victim and who is the aggressor. Lies, mistruths, and disinformation will play a key and continuing role in this fight.

Todd C. Helmus @Helmus, William Marcellino

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Fixing the Problem of Innovation in the Health and Care System

The National Health System has an innovation problem. The problem is not that the system lacks an appetite for innovation; rather, it is that successive efforts to create an enabling environment for innovation have been met with only limited success. But why?

Tom Ling, Robert J. Romanelli

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Israel-Hamas War, AI and Gene Editing, Social Media Regulation: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the Israel-Hamas war, the convergence of machine learning and gene editing, regulating social media while protecting free speech, and more.

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Lessons from the Chinese Conquest of Taiwan

As Chinese political and military leaders envision conquering Taiwan, their predecessors' earlier seizure of the island is likely to inform their thoughts. Deriving lessons from the prior conquest of Taiwan can contribute to anticipation of possible threats and effective responses to them.

Scott Savitz

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India-Canada Spat Is No-Win Situation for the U.S.

For the United States, the ongoing diplomatic row between Canada and India is very uncomfortable because Washington has no interest in choosing sides. The best-case scenario for the Biden administration is that Canada and India resolve their differences privately and expeditiously, without any need for U.S. mediation.

Derek Grossman @DerekJGrossman