The RAND Blog

The RAND Blog

  • commentary

    In the Calculus of Fear, Terrorists Have an Edge

    Bruce Hoffman

    Nov 2, 2003

    Los Angeles Times

    WASHINGTON — "It is no secret that warding off the American enemy is the top duty after faith and that nothing should take priority over it," said the terrorist leader. "Crusader military forces" of the United States and Britain, he warned, had established a beachhead in the Muslim world to impose a new imperialism on the Middle East and gain control of the region's oil.

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  • commentary

    Breach of Airline Security Is Nothing to Panic About

    Brian Michael Jenkins

    Oct 21, 2003

    Los Angeles Times

    The arrest of Nathaniel T. Heatwole on charges of smuggling box cutters, bleach and matches aboard two commercial airliners reminds us that, despite significant improvements since Sept. 11, our security systems are not perfect. They never will be.

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  • commentary

    How Much Is Enough?

    Ralph Masi

    Oct 14, 2003

    Washington Times

    As bipartisan arguments for larger military forces surface among commentators and political leaders, it is important to place these arguments into some meaningful analytical context. It is also wise to hearken back to the 2003 National Defense Authorization Act—and the September 2002 U.S. National Security Strategy that shaped it. In that act, Congress clearly stated that active-duty strengths should be increased over the long term.

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  • commentary

    Terrorism in India is Not Just an Internal Threat

    Rollie Lal

    Sep 30, 2003

    Financial Times

    The car bombs that last month killed 52 people and wounded more than 150 in Mumbai are the latest and deadliest manifestation of a widening Islamic terrorist campaign in India. The campaign may signal an important new centre of terrorist activity and needs to be closely watched by governments around the world.

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  • commentary

    Swarming -- The Next Face of Battle

    John Arquilla, David Ronfeldt

    Sep 29, 2003

    Aviation Week & Space Technology

    Technological advances often give rise to new types of weapons, but the achievement of lasting breakthroughs in fighting power requires organizational and doctrinal innovation as we.

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  • commentary

    Behind the Rhetoric

    Charles Wolf, Jr.

    Sep 26, 2003

    South China Morning Post

    A chronological list of commentaries authored by RAND staff and published in newspapers and magazines worldwide.

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  • commentary

    Buying Cheap Chips From China

    Caroline S. Wagner

    Sep 24, 2003

    Asian Wall Street Journal

    IBM's recent announcement of layoffs at its U.S. semiconductor plant sounds strangely familiar, bringing back memories of when I started my career as a U.S. government policy analyst in the early 1980s. At that time, I found myself in the midst of a great swirl of concern about the technological ascendancy of Japan.

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  • commentary

    The Perfect Army for Iraq: NATO

    Robert E. Hunter

    Sep 13, 2003

    New York Times

    To get needed help in Iraq, including major financial support from European Union countries, returning to the last half-century's commitment to working with others seems the obvious choice. NATO is the answer, and the sooner the better.

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  • commentary

    Talking to Your Child About Kobe

    Mark A. Schuster

    Sep 8, 2003

    Los Angeles Times

    Published commentary by RAND staff.

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  • commentary

    A Limited Success

    Nina Hachigian

    Sep 3, 2003

    South China Morning Post

    All in all, the talks on North Korea's nuclear programme that ended in Beijing last week went as well as could be expected. There were no breakthroughs, but neither did the talks end ruinously.

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  • commentary

    The Real Worry

    Daniel Benjamin, Steven Simon

    Aug 25, 2003

    Time Magazine

    Among the four so-called "economic miracles" of the past half century—Germany after the second world war, Japan in the 1970s and 1980s, South Korea in the 1970s through to the mid-1990s, and China between 1980 and the present day—that of China has been the most remarkable.

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  • commentary

    US: Stick to Diplomacy with North Korea, Even If Talks Fail

    Nina Hachigian

    Aug 7, 2003

    The Christian Science Monitor

    Responding to China's overtures, North Korea has just agreed to a new round of multilateral talks on its claimed nuclear-weapons program. It is the nature of the North Korean regime itself, though, not the weapons program, that is the underlying cause of tension on the Korean peninsula.

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  • commentary

    Fault Lines: Eight Threats to China's Economic Miracle

    Charles Wolf, Jr.

    Aug 7, 2003

    South China Morning Post

    Among the four so-called "economic miracles" of the past half century—Germany after the second world war, Japan in the 1970s and 1980s, South Korea in the 1970s through to the mid-1990s, and China between 1980 and the present day—that of China has been the most remarkable.

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  • commentary

    A Fresh Start Against Terror

    Bruce Berkowitz

    Aug 4, 2003

    New York Times

    commentaries by RAND Staff: insightful commentaries on current events, published in newspapers, magazines and journals worldwide.

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  • commentary

    A Thaw Between Giants

    Rollie Lal

    Aug 3, 2003

    The Baltimore Sun

    commentaries by RAND Staff: insightful commentaries on current events, published in newspapers, magazines and journals worldwide.

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