The RAND Blog

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Human Side of Katrina Recovery Still Needs Work

Four years after Hurricane Katrina, many people in the Gulf Coast region are still "just surviving," write Anita Chandra and Joie Acosta.

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Five Questions President Obama Should Ask in His Visit to New Orleans

The federal government has spent about $140 billion responding to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the Gulf Coast now needs more money for hurricane and flood protection and for coastal restoration. But we still haven't properly evaluated whether our money was spent wisely.

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The Great Silencing: Intolerance and Censorship in the Arab World

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Innovation Means More Than Something New

Information on comparative effectiveness by itself does not change the system that produces these results, writes Elizabeth McGlynn.

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Afghanistan: Echoes of Vietnam

Now that U.S. involvement in Iraq has begun to require fewer resources, Afghanistan is the new focus of American and European anti-war sentiment, and increasingly Obama's critics are drawing on the analogy of Vietnam, writes James Dobbins.

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Disruption and Innovation in Health Care

Successful health care reform may provide virtually all individuals in the United States an adequate health insurance package. However, the need to increase value for health care dollars will extend far beyond the current policy window, writes Robert Brook.

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How to Tell if We're Winning the Afghan War

If one year from today, the Taliban controls less territory and the Afghan security forces are more capable, then we will know the United States is winning, writes Nora Bensahel.

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Path to a Pashtun Rebellion in Afghanistan

The discussion of American troop numbers misunderstands the subtle nuances of fighting a war in areas inhabited by fiercely independent Pashtun tribes, whose culture and traditions are under severe threat from the Taliban, writes Seth Jones.

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China: Self-Perception vs. Outside Perception

China's challenge in defining the security role it will play in the region and the world in the coming years is to harmonize its own view of its security intentions with that of the outside world, writes Michael Lostumbo.

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Finding a Solution to Iran

The revelation of a secret nuclear facility near the holy city of Qom, and the likely existence of other advanced facilities across Iran, makes more urgent the need for a quick solution to the nuclear impasse, writes Alireza Nader.

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Green Buildings, Jobs and Summits

If the United States is to be a global competitor in green building technology, it needs to learn from some of the countries that are at the table in Pittsburgh this week, writes Charles Ries.

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G-20 Growing Pains

The increasing importance of the G-20 summits, which include developing heavyweights such as Brazil, Russia, China and India, is testimony to the growing role emerging states now play in managing the international economy. But integrating these newcomers into the global community is unlikely to be straightforward or simple writes Lowell Schwartz.

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The Right Move in Europe: Improved Opportunities with NATO, Russia

The Obama administration's decision to alter course on missile defense was the right choice. Those who claim it is a capitulation to Russia are wrong, writes Christopher S. Chivvis.

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Real Threats, Real Fears, Real Defenses

Critics of the Bush administration missile defense plans for Central Europe have charged that the United States would be deploying defenses that did not work against a threat that did not exist, writes James Dobbins.