The RAND Blog

commentary

China and the Taliban Begin Their Romance

China is set to benefit significantly from a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. It's worth following this dynamic closely in the coming weeks and months.

Derek Grossman @DerekJGrossman

commentary

As Fire Season Heats Up, Burnout Looms

Increasingly intense fire seasons are taking a physical and mental toll on wildland firefighters. Without more direct attention paid to firefighters' mental health, burnout could decimate the ranks of those who protect lives and property across the West.

Grace Hindmarch, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg @aclarkginsberg, et al.

commentary

Investing in Social Change: Lessons Learned from Foundation-Funded Criminal Justice Research

Investing in policy-focused research can be among the ways foundations catalyze change. Impactful work may involve strong collaborations across funders, researchers, and community partners. And it may require flexibility in design and execution as well as a commitment to getting the findings into the hands of decisionmakers who can use the findings to create change.

Stephanie Brooks Holliday

commentary

Platforms Should Use Algorithms to Help Users Help Themselves

Social media users generate massive volumes of content, which then spreads at extraordinary speeds. Yet platforms generally rely on a slow process of human moderation to remove prohibited content. What if moderation could happen before the content is even posted?

Christopher Paul, Hilary Reininger

commentary

Split-Screen Recovery from Pandemic Isn't Sustainable

In a world connected by commerce and the air we breathe, it's hard to see how any COVID-19 recovery that's confined to specific segments of the population is sustainable. Failing to address gaps in the pandemic response would run the risk that a future mutation of this virus could send us scurrying for cover. Again.

Krishna B. Kumar @kbkumar_

commentary

When the World Shut Down, She Packed Up and Headed Home

With COVID-19, all the advantages of an urban lifestyle for a RAND researcher and her family vanished. So they packed up and moved home to Nebraska for the year.

Lisa Davis

commentary

America's Strategy in Oceania: Time for a Better Approach

China has moved in earnest to engage with Oceania, while the United States is vying to get a toehold in the region. To develop an effective strategy for engaging there, Washington could seek guidance from key allies to better understand their experience, lessons, and efforts already underway.

Jennifer D. P. Moroney @jdpmoroney, Alan Tidwell

blog

Paying College Athletes, Preventing Suicide, Planning for Heatwaves: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on a potential step toward paying college athletes, helping college freshmen overcome COVID-19 learning loss, the effects of U.S. sanctions in Syria, more.

commentary

Mind the Gap

For decades, NATO forces have used nearby bases to keep tabs on Russian submarines, surface ships, and aircraft transiting the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom Gap. Strong independence movements in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Scotland could soon jeopardize this position.

Scott Savitz

commentary

Can China Be a Real Partner in Bringing North Korea to the Nuclear Negotiating Table?

The United States remains committed to the goal of denuclearization of North Korea. China is more interested in maintaining a delicate geopolitical balance to counter U.S. influence in the region and in expanding its own reach. Thus, prospects for productive U.S.-China cooperation on the North Korean nuclear threat seem faint at best.

Soo Kim

commentary

North Korean Nuclear Weapons Pose an Existential Threat to China

Despite the current border closures between their two countries, China and North Korea remain resolutely pledged to a “blood-alliance.” But this partnership has vastly different implications depending on which side of the border you consider.

Bruce W. Bennett @bwbennett, Diana Y. Myers

commentary

Next Year's Freshman: How Corequisites Might Help Address COVID-19 Learning Loss

As states and colleges look to address learning loss due to COVID-19, it is important that they not turn to traditional models of remediation that prevent students from directly entering college coursework. Instead, they should look to new, effective models of corequisite support.

Lindsay Daugherty, Trey Miller

commentary

Four Strategies to Reduce Disaster Risk in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Contexts

Addressing the circumstances for the more than two billion people living in fragile and conflict-affected contexts is crucial for delivering on the United Nations commitment for disaster risk reduction. Four strategies can help reduce risk and improve resilience for these communities.

Aaron Clark-Ginsberg @aclarkginsberg, Ronak B. Patel, et al.

commentary

Charting a Path Forward for College Athletes to Receive Pay

The NCAA has long restricted what student athletes could receive in education-related benefits. But a recent Supreme Court ruling may be a step toward allowing athletes to access the income that their labor produces.

Jhacova Williams

blog

Equity in Research, North Korean Instability, Traffic Stops: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how RAND applies an equity lens to research, instability in North Korea, what police think about traffic stops, and more.