Children, Families, and Communities

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Book Review: 'Forgotten Warriors: The Long History of Women in Combat' by Sarah Percy

In her book Forgotten Warriors: The Long History of Women in Combat, Sarah Percy offers an expansive and insightful exploration of both the historical record as well as how—and why—it may have been erased.

Kayla M. Williams @KWilliams101

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How New York City Can Make Housing More Affordable

With few vacancies, rents in New York City have become some of the most unaffordable in the world. People with subsidized housing vouchers often have nowhere to go to use them. Housing production is a critical part of any solution to housing affordability—in New York and elsewhere.

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Supporting Veterans, Israel-Hamas War, AI and Geopolitics: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on supporting America's veterans, what Israel's ground offensive in Gaza can and cannot accomplish, how AI might affect the rise and fall of nations, and more.

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Therapeutic Use of Psychedelics in Treating PTSD and Depression Among Veterans

Clinical trials have shown that psychedelics can have a positive effect on mental health conditions like PTSD or depression for some people. Enthusiasm for these treatments has grown among veterans and providers who work with military populations. The VA should invest in research and provide guidance on psychedelics.

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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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Risks of AI, Israel Faces Hard Choices, China 'Doesn't Get It': RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the risks of artificial intelligence, tough choices facing the Israeli government, China's blunders on the international stage, and more.

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The Inevitable, Ongoing Failure of Israel's Gaza Strategy

The Hamas attack represented a spectacular failure of Israel's “mowing the grass” strategy in the Gaza Strip. If there's to be any hope of preventing the next war and the one after that, Israel will need to rebuild Gaza into something better than it was.

Raphael S. Cohen

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A Case for Promoting Infrastructure Equity for the Olympics

In 2028, Los Angeles will host the Olympic Games for the third time. A critical factor for successfully hosting will be for planners to ask hard questions early, so the community can collaborate with the organizing committee, informing its response to critical themes such as homes, health, transport, jobs, society, and culture.

Cristian Cardenas

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A Matter of Trust: More Delays for the VA's EHR System

Given how long it's taken to get five Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals online, the path to around 170 hospitals using the VA's new electronic health record system seems hard to envision. The next step won't even come until March. Until then, veterans just have to wait as fixes are made, money is spent, and patients are hopefully kept safe.

Shira H. Fischer @ShiraFischer

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Nuclear Deterrence, Russia and Iran, Deepfakes: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how much is “enough” for U.S. nuclear forces, the budding Russia-Iran partnership, the challenge of detecting deepfakes, and more.

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Escalation in Ukraine, a Trilateral Imperialist Threat, Disaster Recovery: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the risk of escalation in Ukraine, the threat of a North-Korea-Russia-China partnership, the economics of disaster recovery, and more.

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It's Time to Take Societal Resilience Seriously

To build the societal resilience required to respond effectively to everything from climate-related emergencies to pandemics, to intentional state-on-state attacks, and disinformation, a joint approach is needed, not only across government, but across wider society.

Rebecca Lucas

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How to Put RAND Findings on Veteran Support for Extremism in Context

A RAND survey found that U.S. veterans appeared to support extremist groups at a rate lower than the general population. In contrast, a new University of Maryland study found that veteran status was the most prominent characteristic among extremists involved in terrorism attacks with four or more victims.

Todd C. Helmus @Helmus, Ryan Andrew Brown, et al.

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U.S. and Israel on Parallel Paths

From the political roles of religious fundamentalism, to the inability of either side to find compromise with the other, to leaders facing legal struggles, the United States and Israel have a lot in common.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

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Normalizing Assad Won't Solve the Syrian Refugee Crisis

As much as Syrian refugees would like to return home eventually and as much as neighboring countries would welcome an end to the challenges of hosting large refugee communities, now is not the right time for mass Syrian refugee repatriation. Regional governments could instead focus on supporting refugees where they are, especially by allowing them to be legal, productive members of local economies.

Nadia Almasalkhi, Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson