The RAND Blog

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What Will the Opioid Crisis Look Like in Five Years?

Evidence suggests that once a synthetic opioid like fentanyl becomes dominant in a drug market, it stays that way. With that in mind, the United States should prepare for these drugs as a lasting phenomenon.

Jirka Taylor, Peter Reuter

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Recognizing Family Caregivers as Part of the Health Care Team

Recent shifts in health care practices have left family caregivers increasingly responsible for medical tasks. Given family caregivers' central role in medical care, there are efforts underway to improve family caregiver integration into the health care team, but there are barriers to effective integration and engagement.

Esther M. Friedman, Patricia K. Tong

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Vietnam Needs to 'Struggle' More in the South China Sea

With the standoff between China and Vietnam at the disputed Vanguard Bank ended, it makes sense to take stock of how Hanoi's security strategy fared in countering Chinese coercion. It may be time for Vietnam to consider a careful recalibration to allow for more “struggle” and less “cooperation.”

Derek Grossman @DerekJGrossman

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Disinformation, Drug Policy, Artificial Intelligence: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on tools to fight disinformation online, the negative consequences of punishing pregnant women for drug use, how to ensure public trust in artificial intelligence, and more

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RAND Is Accepting Applications for Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowships

RAND is accepting applications for up to three Stanton Nuclear Security Fellows. The application deadline is January 21, 2020. The program was created to stimulate the development of the next generation of thought leaders on nuclear security.

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How Voters Can Assess New Climate Plans

While the U.S. government has announced its intention to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, most presidential candidates and many states have proposed climate plans of their own. How might voters determine if any of these plans can seriously address climate change?

Robert J. Lempert @RobertLempert

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Don't Overestimate the Power of Iraqi Protests

As protests in Iraq grow, a “good news” narrative seems to be developing that they are a significant blow to Iranian influence. But the bigger story is not who is up and who is down between Washington and Tehran; it is that yet another Arab public has taken to the streets demanding change.

Jeffrey Martini, Ariane M. Tabatabai

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Veterans, Autonomous Vehicles, Digital Protests: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on preventing veteran suicide, who's responsible when a car is hacked, how digital protests can affect Fortune 500 companies, and more.

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The RAND Institute for Civil Justice: 40th Anniversary Reflections

For 40 years, the RAND Institute for Civil Justice (ICJ) has supplied government and private decisionmakers and the public with the results of objective, empirically based, analytic research. In this era of the diminishing role of facts and analysis in public life, or Truth Decay, the mission and research of the ICJ have never been more important.

Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich

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A New Phase in Middle-Power Adjustment to U.S.–China Competition?

Observers of world order focus inordinately on intensifying strategic competition between the United States and China. Less examined, but no less important, is how their competition is affecting geopolitics outside of the two countries.

Ali Wyne, Bonnie S. Glaser

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South Korea Should Consider Sticking with Intelligence-Sharing Pact with Japan

South Korea announced its intent to withdraw from an intelligence-sharing arrangement with Japan. There are four reasons that Seoul should strongly consider reversing course.

Scott W. Harold

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How a Poor Indoor Environment at Home Affects Children's Health in the EU

One third of children in the EU are exposed to damp or mold, cold, darkness, and noise in their own homes. The good condition of homes should not only be seen as an issue of comfort, but as an essential basic requirement for good health of the residents, especially when they are families with children.

Daniel Gehrt

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First, Manage Security Threats to Machine Learning

Deception is as old as warfare itself. Until now, the targets of deception operations have been humans. But the introduction of machine learning and artificial intelligence opens up a whole new world of opportunities to deceive by targeting machines.

Rand Waltzman, Thomas S. Szayna

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More Can Be Done to Save Veterans from Suicide

A decade of research at RAND has sought to focus the national conversation about suicide in general, and veteran suicide in particular, around solutions that work. The overwhelming message: We could do more to save the lives of veterans like Daniel Somers. Here is his story.

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White Supremacist Terrorism, Wildfires, the Dark Web: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on violent white supremacy, power outages to prevent wildfires, how to catch criminals on the dark web, and more.