Intelligence Community

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Protests in China, Negotiating with Russia, L.A.'s 'Mansion Tax': RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on protests in China amid the government's zero-COVID policy, the potential harm in negotiating with Russia, building more affordable housing in Los Angeles, and more.

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Intelligence Work Is Exciting. And Traumatizing

The intelligence community needs to communicate to its workforce about the varied forms of trauma, how it affects individuals, and what resources exist to help. Protecting the intelligence workforce can help protect us all.

Heather J. Williams @HeatherJWill

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How Should the U.S. Military Share Secrets?

For security cooperation to work, allies may need access to details of U.S. military plans and activities. But does the need for a clearly defined U.S. advantage prevent sharing information that may be broadly in the U.S. interest? Who should evaluate this advantage, and at what level?

Andrew Radin @andrewmradin

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Racism and Patient Safety, Abortion After Dobbs, Homelessness: RAND Weekly Recap

This week, we discuss how racism impacts patient safety; the effects of overturning Roe v. Wade; trauma in the U.S. Intelligence Community; addressing homelessness in L.A.; disputes in the South China Sea; and how space mirrors might help address climate change.

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The Intelligence Community Doesn't Warn About All Attacks Against the U.S. Homeland. Why Not?

Targets for foreign threats against the United States increasingly include entities that are not part of the U.S. government or military. But too many of these potential victims are unaware of threats against them, are not warned with intelligence reporting about such threats, and lack information about options to protect themselves.

Cortney Weinbaum @cortney_dc

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Civilian Casualties: Lessons from the Battle for Raqqa

The United States' emphasis on minimizing civilian harm in Raqqa, Syria, was quite clear and strong up and down the chain of command. But the way in which the U.S. military waged war in Raqqa too often undercut that commitment. The Pentagon asked RAND to find out what happened.

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How to Avoid Extremism on Social Media

Extremist groups have been trolling the internet for decades, and they have learned to temper their words and disguise their intentions. A new scorecard can help users—or parents, or advertisers, or the social media companies themselves—understand when they might be interacting with extremist content.

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Don't Sleep on Russian Information War Capabilities

Ukraine looks to have Russia beat in countering Russian disinformation. But this is only part of the story. Instead of fixating on Russia's missteps, policymakers and analysts would benefit from studying Ukraine's sophisticated information campaign while bearing in mind that Russia retains significant information warfare capabilities and a willingness to use them.

Alyssa Demus, Christopher Paul

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The Most Popular RAND Research of 2021

As another extraordinary year draws to a close, we continue to believe that objective, nonpartisan research and analysis has a key role to play in navigating what continues to be a difficult time. Here are the 10 research projects that resonated most with rand.org readers in 2021.

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Countering Domestic Terrorism May Require Rethinking U.S. Intelligence Strategy

The United States is deeply divided, its political system polarized. Getting counterterrorism wrong could make the situation worse. The challenge is to isolate and contain violent extremists without turning them into political martyrs or half the country into enemies of the state.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

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The Uyghurs, Getting the World Vaccinated, Policing in America: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on China's disappeared Uyghurs, how the United States can help get the rest of the world vaccinated, what's next for policing in America, and more.

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China's Disappeared Uyghurs: What Satellite Images Reveal

At least one million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have vanished into a sprawling network of camps and prisons in China's far west. Satellite images show brightly lit compounds, wall after wall of barbed wire, and a sudden rush to build what appear to be fortified preschools.

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COVID-19 Demographic Trends, Vaccinating 'High-Contact' People, the Iran Threat Network: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how the pandemic is shaping demographic trends, targeting vaccines to "high-contact" people, the Iran Threat Network, and more.

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The Intelligence Community's Deadly Bias Toward Classified Sources

Even when relevant data is publicly available, U.S. intelligence analysts are not including it in their analytic products during their routine course of business. This willful ignorance of publicly available information is hurting U.S. national security.

Cortney Weinbaum @cortney_dc

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An Early Policy Victory for DNI Haines: Boost the Priority of Open Sources Information

The quantity, quality, and accessibility of publicly available information has exploded over the past decades. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines has an opportunity to advance intelligence community mission activities on several key issues shaped by the digital information age, including the role of publicly available information.

John V. Parachini @JohnParachini, J.D. Williams, et al.