March 2013

International Diplomacy
commentary
The Risks of an Excess of Caution in Syria
Christopher S. Chivvis
Mar 29, 2013
The RAND Blog
Syria is looking more like a collapsed state every day. Nearly a million people have now fled Syria for safety abroad. Meanwhile, the influence of extremist groups, such as the al Nusrah Front, continues to grow as these groups slip into the areas vacated by the Syrian state.
Read More »

Global Climate Change
commentary
A Gradually Escalating Carbon Tax Would Allow Businesses and Consumers Time to Prepare
Keith Crane
Mar 29, 2013
Wall Street Journal Online
A conservative, cost-efficient response to climate change involves sending price signals to people and businesses now so that they take steps to reduce emissions, writes Keith Crane.
Read More »
Health Care Costs
commentary
Remove Medicare's Straitjacket
Arthur L. Kellermann
Mar 29, 2013
Los Angeles Times
Removing the constraints on Medicare would not only lead to lower prices at the drugstore, hospital and doctor's office, it could spark a new era of healthcare innovation, says Arthur Kellermann.
Read More »
Solar Energy
commentary
Why China's Suntech Might Not Be Alone in Heading Toward Bankruptcy
Keith Crane
Mar 29, 2013
The RAND Blog
Demand for photovoltaic solar panels still primarily depends on government subsidies, as in most parts of the world solar power remains more expensive than conventional sources of electricity, says Keith Crane.
Read More »
International Diplomacy
commentary
America's Delicate Dance in the Pacific
David A. Shlapak
Mar 28, 2013
U.S. News & World Report
Even if Japan and China ease the tensions in their dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyus islands, the United States should gird itself for further uncomfortable contingencies in the coming years, writes David Shlapak.
Read More »
Petroleum
commentary
Prices Will Still Be Dictated by World Markets and the Middle East Will Continue to Bedevil Policymakers
Keith Crane
Mar 28, 2013
Wall Street Journal Online
Even if the United States no longer imports oil from the Middle East, the United States will still be vulnerable to oil price shocks driven by developments in the Middle East, writes Keith Crane.
Read More »
International Diplomacy
commentary
Why Erdogan Wants Peace with the PKK
F. Stephen Larrabee
Mar 27, 2013
Foreign Affairs
With the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) now apparently ready to try to peacefully resolve differences with Turkey, the prospects that the uprising will come to an end have improved, writes F. Stephen Larrabee.
Read More »
commentary
Demonstration Effect
Warren Bass
Mar 25, 2013
Foreign Policy
The most encouraging thing about President Obama's Jerusalem speech may have been the audience applause. Like President Reagan, Obama went soaring over the heads of officials, elites, and pundits, directly to Israel's citizenry, says Warren Bass.
Read More »
Gun Violence
commentary
Guns in Homes: A Health Hazard
Arthur L. Kellermann
Mar 25, 2013
New York Daily News
An ample body of evidence indicates that the benefits of keeping a gun for protection are substantially outweighed by the associated risks, writes Art Kellermann.
Read More »
Military Force Deployment
commentary
The Invasion of Iraq: A Balance Sheet
Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins
Mar 22, 2013
The RAND Blog and GlobalSecurity.org
The costly removal of Saddam Hussein won no applause, earned no gratitude, established no reliable ally, and produced no lasting strategic benefit, says Brian Michael Jenkins.
Read More »
Preventive Health Care
commentary
Making Heart Disease a Women's Issue
Chloe E. Bird @ChloeBirdPhD
Mar 22, 2013
Ms. Magazine
When it comes to women's health, cancer gets a good deal of the attention; somehow, it hasn’t fully registered that so many of our mothers, sisters, friends and daughters are being affected by another, often silent killer, writes Chloe E. Bird.
Read More »
blog
New RAND Study Examines Voting Patterns in Post-Mubarak Egypt
Mar 22, 2013
While much has been written on the electoral strength of Islamists in Egypt, most of the analysis has been done at the national level, ignoring regional divides within the country. A new report identifies the areas where Islamist parties run strongest, and the areas where non-Islamists are most competitive.
Read More »
Warfare and Military Operations
commentary
The Deeply Mixed Results of the Iraq War
Ben Connable
Mar 21, 2013
U.S. News & World Report
Ten years after the United States and its allies invaded Iraq, it seems appropriate to ask a bottom-line question: Did the U.S. succeed? The U.S. came very close to losing the Iraq war of 2003-2011, writes Ben Connable.
Read More »
Military Budgets and Defense Spending
q&a
Grappling with the Sequester: Q&A with Charles Nemfakos
Mar 20, 2013
Will any good come out of the Pentagon's sequester-mandated spending cuts? If nothing else, it will drive folks to think the unthinkable, says Charles Nemfakos.
Read More »
Nation Building
commentary
Iraq Isn't as Fragile as It Looks
Lowell H. Schwartz
Mar 19, 2013
CNN
Ten years after the Iraq war started, violence persists. Yet despite much pessimism, the new order survives without U.S. assistance. And it is a lot less fragile than it often appears, says Lowell Schwartz.
Read More »
Civilian Military Workforce
commentary
A Lesson from Iraq War: How to Outsource War to Private Contractors
Molly Dunigan
Mar 19, 2013
Christian Science Monitor
Both to repeat the successes of private military contracting and to avoid the mistakes of contractors in the recent wars, the Department of Defense must consider several points specific to security contractors, writes Molly Dunigan.
Read More »