International Humanitarian Assistance

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America Can Still Deliver on Global Vaccine Diplomacy

It is hard to see how science alone can end the pandemic without the rallying power of global diplomacy. The United States has played a leadership role in previous outbreaks, such as Ebola. It could play a similar role now to help consign the current pandemic to epidemic status.

Krishna B. Kumar

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It's Time for the West to Engage with the Taliban

As a winter crisis looms, the Afghan people need support more than ever. Economic collapse and isolation risk provoking deeper instability, insecurity, and repression. The international community should now look seriously at making a deal with the Taliban to address these risks.

Rory Stewart, Michael E. O'Hanlon, et al.

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With the Evacuation Over, Afghanistan Is Left to Contend with a Worsening Refugee Crisis

The more than 100,000 civilians recently evacuated from Afghanistan are a small fraction of those who have lost their homes and livelihoods due to war. To avoid worsening the existing humanitarian crisis, the global community should take swift action, including close coordination with regional and national players.

Louay Constant, Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson

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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.

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Why We 'Send Them Money'

Why does the United States send foreign countries American taxpayer money? The answer, in short, is because it serves U.S. self-interest to do so. Aid is not some act of charity at the American taxpayers' expense; it can help keep Americans safer, more prosperous, and secure.

Raphael S. Cohen

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COVID-19 Crisis Could Spur Post-Soviet Fixes

Much of the post-Soviet space remains afflicted with authoritarian rule, inefficient economies, corruption, and regional tensions. The COVID-19 crisis could prod countries to address key issues, but they will need help. Targeted Western aid could help willing countries make progress.

Denis Corboy, William Courtney @courtneywmh, et al.

essay

The Right Technology Can Help Refugees Stay Connected

Nearly 71 million people globally are displaced by conflict and persecution. There have been some real advances in technology to help them, but innovations have often been fragmented, without a larger vision. A more strategic approach to technology could better serve their needs.

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Five Thoughts on Jerusalem, Gaza, and What's in Between

Dozens of people have been killed and over 2,000 injured in protests in the Gaza Strip along the border with Israel. Continued clashes are expected until the fundamental problems of the strip are solved, including the governance vacuum, the Palestinian Authority-Hamas rift, and the conflict with Israel.

Shira Efron

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Gaza on the Brink

The combined risk of violence and pandemic in Gaza makes this small coastal enclave a ticking time bomb. While neither Israel nor the U.S. has the solutions to all of Gaza's water and health woes, the United States' decision to withhold funding to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency could only make things worse.

Shira Efron

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We Are Almost Dead: The Politics of Migrants and Refugees in an Unequal World

People move, and always have moved, in search of better lives for themselves and their children. Why else would someone leave everything behind and brave the seas? What else is worth the risk? Jonathan Blake discusses books that examine people's need for refuge.

Jonathan S. Blake

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If We Don't Get the Peace Right, Iraq Will Slide Back into the Morass

Actions taken now by the United States, the Iraqi government, and private parties could determine the war-torn country's future. The message the Sunnis receive in these next six months will determine whether Iraq is on the path to stability.

Linda Robinson, Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson

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How Innovation Can Assist the Refugee 'Pathway'

New ways to collaborate and coordinate humanitarian actions are needed so that refugees, host communities, and other stakeholders are empowered to create and spread innovative solutions. These efforts should consider the entire refugee pathway, not only emergency and arrival assistance.

Jennie Corbett, Corinna Frey, et al.

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Stabilizing Mosul After the Battle Against ISIS

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have retaken the east bank of Mosul and are planning to take the west soon. The military operations that oust ISIS are crucial to the city's liberation but failing to get the civilian response right risks a widening civil war.

Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson, Linda Robinson

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Cutting the Islamic State's Money Supply

Airstrikes have hit ISIL tanker trucks, oil fields, refineries, and banks, but it would be a mistake to view the group as a poor man's version of its old self. New steps are needed to counter its multi-million dollar taxation and extortion machine.

Eric Robinson @RobinsonEricD

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A Different Kind of Refugee Crisis

In Jordan and Lebanon, middle-income countries with robust public sectors where a significant Syrian population may be present for years to come, solutions should be more about supporting the expansion of existing national public services, rather than creating new, internationally run parallel services.

Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson

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Tracking Refugees with Biometrics: More Questions Than Answers

Using biometrics in refugee crises is compelling because it gives individuals who have nothing proof of identity even without a government-issued credential like an ID card or passport. But who has rights to the U.N. biometrics database and what is its future?

Sarah Lovell

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A New Approach to Managing Aid Agencies

The current approach to managing aid agencies is confused due to two opposing forces: a results-based approach to management and an emphasis on the need to achieve systemic changes and transform underlying constraints.

Tom Ling

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Will Today's Refugees Become the 'New Palestinians'?

The conflicts in Syria and Iraq have generated the greatest volume of refugees since World War II. If the international community is to avoid seeing the emergence of a population of new Palestinians lasting decades into the future, it will have to craft a more coherent approach.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

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Syrian Refugees: All You Need to Know

The world can only absorb so many millions of refugees. The civil war in Syria demands a political solution facilitated by international leadership that will bring stability and enable refugees to return to home.

Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson

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Family Planning Must Be Part of the Humanitarian Response in Africa's Conflict Zones

Worldwide, nearly 800 women die every day due to mostly preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. More than half of these deaths occur in fragile states torn by armed conflict and generalized violence.

Mahlet Atakilt Woldetsadik

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Seduced by a Strongman?

It is not true that domestic politics can be quarantined from foreign policy. In fact, Egypt's domestic and foreign policies are becoming more entangled by the day. And that bleed-over should raise concerns.

Jeffrey Martini

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Syrian Refugees: A Blessing in Disguise?

To avoid further resentment and restrictions on Syrians desperate to escape their war-torn country, as well as the instability such attitudes generate, the international community must work with host governments to increase and highlight the benefits refugee populations can bring to neighboring states.

Dalia Dassa Kaye

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State of the Union 2014: President Obama Calls for a Year of Action

Obama called for “a year of action” to achieve his 2014 agenda — from helping people sign up for health insurance, to immigration reform, to completing the mission in Afghanistan. RAND is committed to raising the level of public policy debates and offering evidence-based, actionable solutions.

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How Philippines Typhoon Aid Helps USA

In the wake of Haiyan there is no substitute for the capabilities of the U.S. military. At the level of national interest, however, does the case for tasking the U.S. military to international natural disasters hold up — particularly in a time when the Pentagon has seen its budget slashed?

Jonah Blank

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Responding in Typhoon Haiyan's Wake

Prior responses to other recent disasters offer important lessons. Improved preparedness and efficient coordination mechanisms can help ensure that, when time is of the essence, the United States provides the most effective response.

Jennifer D. P. Moroney @jdpmoroney, Stephanie Pezard @StephaniePezard

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North Korea's Coming Collapse

he North Korean government could collapse at any time, setting off a humanitarian disaster of historic proportions, according to Bruce Bennett

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North Korea's Third Nuclear Test: A Sign of Weakness, Not Strength

The ROK and the United States should take actions to deter subsequent North Korean provocations while punishing the country for its nuclear weapon test. Such actions could convince it that the ROK/U.S. are serious and able to impose high costs, writes Bruce Bennett.

Bruce W. Bennett @bwbennett

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The Paradoxes of China

China is rife with paradoxes...of class, foreign aid, military spending, and corruption. Whether and how they are resolved will seriously affect the evolution of policies within China, as well as its future relations with the United States, writes Charles Wolf, Jr.

Charles Wolf, Jr.

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Tokyo's Transformation

The U.S. response to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami showcased its lasting commitment to Japan, as well as the unique logistical and material capabilities that the U.S. military forces stationed in the Pacific can provide, write Eric Heginbotham, Ely Ratner, and Richard J. Samuels.

Eric Heginbotham, Ely Ratner, et al.

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Skip the Graft

The latest disaster to befall Haiti creates the opportunity to combine bipartisan accord on Haiti in Washington with keen and perhaps sustained American public interest, writes James Dobbins.

James Dobbins

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Make Room for Refugees

Today, tens of thousands of Iraqis are in grave danger, targeted because they have worked with the United States. Many have been murdered. Others have fled their homes because of attacks or threats… Many want to come to America, and we should welcome them, writes Olga Oliker.

Olga Oliker

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Spending Aid to Palestinians Wisely

Spending Aid to Palestinians Wisely in the International Herald Tribune

David Aaron, C. Ross Anthony

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Blair's Project for a New Palestine

Blair's Project for a New Palestine, in Project Syndicate--an associationthat distributes commentaries to 291 newspapers in 115 countries.

Robert E. Hunter

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How to Deal with Hamas

Published commentary by RAND staff: How to Deal with Hamas, in United Press International.

David Aaron

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Buy Security Through Aid

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Gregory F. Treverton, Robert Klitgaard

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Strengthening the Partnership

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Cheryl Benard

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'Oil for Food' Worked

Published commentary by RAND staff.

James Dobbins

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Safety First

Published commentary by RAND staff.

James Dobbins

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Afghanistan Without Doctors

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Cheryl Benard

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Afghanistan's Faltering Reconstruction

Published commentary by RAND staff.

James Dobbins

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Want to Help Africa? Stop Farm Subsidies

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Carl Bildt

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To Intervene or Not to Intervene

When U.S. policymakers contemplate intervention abroad, they should do so with abundant humility, if not timidity, because of the profoundly uncertain connections between the blunt instruments they can use and the complex ends they seek.

Charles Wolf, Jr.