2013

commentary

The U.S.-Iran Wrestling Match

According to Khamenei, the Islamic Republic is willing to engage its enemy, or show “flexibility,” in order to win the overall competition. However, Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards have also laid out clear red lines for Rouhani. He is to demonstrate no weakness or “humility” with the opponent, the United States.

Alireza Nader

commentary

Will ACA Implementation Lead to a Spike in Demand for Care?

The growing number of Americans newly-insured under the ACA will undoubtedly lead to a surge in demand for care, whether through Medicaid or insurance exchanges. But, if predictions hold, the increase won't be as dramatic as some may fear, writes David I. Auerbach.

David I. Auerbach

blog

New RAND Report Updates, Expands Research on Successful Counterinsurgency Approaches

When a country is threatened by an insurgency, what efforts give its government the best chance of prevailing? A new update to a RAND 2010 study expands the data set of 30 insurgencies to 71 and compares all 71 of them begun and completed worldwide since World War II.

commentary

Could Norway Be Key to a Future Syria Strike?

If Syrian acceptance of the Russia-backed plan that is supposed to see it give up its chemical weapons turns out to be a stalling tactic — as many believe it is — support for strikes from allies like Norway will be all the more important to the White House, writes Christopher S. Chivvis.

Christopher S. Chivvis

commentary

The Hidden Conclusions in the U.N.'s Syria Gas Report

The lethality of the munitions used in Syria point directly to an actor with significant capacities and long experience using chemical weaponry and artillery, writes James T. Quinlivan. And that fingers the notoriously abusive Assad regime, not the outmatched, outgunned and frantically improvising rebels.

James T. Quinlivan

blog

RAND's Teacher Bonus Research Recognized by U.S. Dept. of Education

The U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences recognized a RAND report on the effects of teacher bonuses in New York City public schools last week. IES added the report, A Big Apple for Educators, to its What Works Clearinghouse.

commentary

The Road on from Damascus: What the Syria Deal Means for the U.S. and Russia

The deal the United States and Russia struck to get rid of Syria's chemical weaponry is neither a sign of a sea change in relations nor a victory for one party over the other, writes Olga Oliker. It is, however, something of a testament to diplomacy on both sides.

Olga Oliker

commentary

Obama Should Take Iran's Overture Seriously

If his words are any guide, Iran's supreme leader is pivoting to diplomacy. Long an advocate of “resistance” to the United States, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei now praises his new president, Hassan Rouhani, for his administration's “heroic” and “artful” approach toward foreign policy.

Alireza Nader

blog

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

blog

New RAND Study Examines Chinese Economic Assistance to Other Countries

With the world's second largest economy, China has the capacity to engage in substantial programs of economic assistance and government-sponsored investments in 93 emerging-market countries.

commentary

A Smarter Way to Stop Syria WMD Attacks

President Obama made a strong case that the U.S. should take the lead in punishing the Syrian regime for its use of chemical weapons and actively enforce the near-global ban on these weapons. Now, the possibility of a diplomatic solution to this problem offers an opportunity to improve the request for the authorization of force currently before Congress.

Ben Connable, Jonah Blank, et al.

commentary

Needed: Sustainable Spying Oversight

Domestic intelligence in the United States is an activity with a history, and efforts to consider future policy on this issue need to take that history into account, writes Brian Jackson. Public acceptability must be part of the calculus in devising oversight and control of intelligence efforts.

Brian A. Jackson

announcement

RAND Designs Web Registry for Developing-Country Impact Evaluations

Announcement about RAND's work designing a web registry for impact evaluations in developing countries

commentary

Who Killed Mrs X? The Global Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial drugs are no longer working as they once did. The bugs that they are supposed to attack are becoming increasingly resistant. Microbes follow the same rules of evolution as we do. Through reproduction and natural selection the fittest survive.

Jonathan Grant, Jirka Taylor

commentary

Americans' Hearts, but Not Necessarily Wallets, Will Be Open for Victims of Navy Yard Shootings

Comparisons are already being drawn between Monday's terrible events in the Washington Navy Yard and other recent high profile mass shootings, including those that occurred last year in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo. However, one way in which this shooting may differ from other events is in who — if anybody — provides financial compensation for those who are injured.

Paul Heaton