2015

Developing Countries
q&a
Reaching the 80 Percent: Q&A with Krishna Kumar
Jun 15, 2015
Krishna Kumar discusses studying agriculture in China, low-income housing in India, and labor markets in Bangladesh, and how research can help the developing world.
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Transportation Security
commentary
TSA Flunked Its Security Test Big Time — Now What?
Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins
Jun 15, 2015
The Hill
We have to accept that humans, no matter how well-trained they are or how dedicated they are to their mission, are just not very good at maintaining laser-like focus while performing repetitive tasks. That does not mean airport security can ever be completely given over to machines.
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Affordable Care Act
commentary
What Americans Know About King v. Burwell
Katherine Grace Carman @KGCarman, Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner
Jun 12, 2015
The RAND Blog
An upcoming Supreme Court ruling regarding the Affordable Care Act could impact millions of Americans. Are Americans aware of the court case? And if so, what do they know about it?
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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
commentary
Military Security Contractors Get PTSD, Too
Molly Dunigan, Carrie M. Farmer @carriefarmer
Jun 12, 2015
USA Today
Largely absent from the conversation about the use of military security contractors are the parallel issues of mental health and the deployment-related stress contractors can face.
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The Islamic State (Terrorist Organization)
commentary
Expanding the Caliphate
Seth G. Jones
Jun 12, 2015
Foreign Affairs
ISIS in South Asia, which it calls the Islamic State of Khorasan, is larger than most recognize, boasting between several hundred and several thousand fighters. But for now, it is closer to a loose affiliate than a direct arm of the organization.
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Community-Based Health Care
announcement
Community Partners in Care Receives Accolade
Jun 10, 2015
Community Partners in Care, a partnership that uses a unique approach to improve depression care in under-resourced communities, has received the 2015 Community-Campus Partnerships for Health Award.
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Low-Intensity Conflict
commentary
War or Peace? Putting a Price on the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse
Charles P. Ries @charles_ries, C. Ross Anthony
Jun 9, 2015
Newsweek
Today, more than 90 percent of Israelis and Palestinians were born after 1948 and have known nothing other than some version of the impasse. Both sides could be better off with a stable two-state solution. Prolonging the impasse for another generation would have real costs.
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Military Veterans
commentary
Social Media as a Tool for Reaching Veterans in Need of Mental Health Care
Eric R. Pedersen @ericrpedersen
Jun 9, 2015
The RAND Blog
Reaching veterans to learn more about their mental health care seeking poses a conundrum. They are typically recruited for studies in clinical settings, so those who are not seeking care are not represented. Facebook may be a viable method to reach them.
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Military Strategy
commentary
Why the United States Needs an Active Denial Strategy for Asia
Eric Heginbotham, Jacob L. Heim
Jun 8, 2015
The RAND Blog
The evolving balance of power will require adjustments to U.S. strategy. Making those adjustments will help ensure that the U.S.-China relationship, now merely tense, doesn't escalate to hostile.
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Antimicrobial Resistance
commentary
G7 Leaders to Discuss Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance
Marco Hafner, Jirka Taylor
Jun 8, 2015
The RAND Blog
The threat of drug resistance can be tackled with the right set of actions, including the development of new antimicrobial drugs and alternative therapies to disrupt the rise in resistance. German Chancellor Merkel has emphasized the importance of a joint global action plan for addressing this growing problem.
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Vietnam
commentary
Book Review: 'Uphill Battle' by Frank Scotton
James T. Quinlivan
Jun 5, 2015
American Diplomacy
This book provides a more sympathetic understanding of the Vietnam War at the working level when everything now known about it was still in the future.
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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
commentary
Veterans Battle Mental Health Issues After Iraq and Afghanistan
Terri Tanielian, Rajeev Ramchand @RRamchand
Jun 4, 2015
U.S. News & World Report
Researchers have made great progress capturing the consequences of coping with injuries sustained in the theater of war, but the emerging picture is shadowed in grays. A series of recent findings presents a bleak portrait of the cost of modern war to service members, their families, and their health care providers.
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Transportation Security
commentary
Are Airport Security Screeners Looking for the Wrong Things?
K. Jack Riley @K_Jack_Riley
Jun 4, 2015
Newsweek
An investigation revealed that the TSA has failed in contraband testing, at a 95 percent rate. This shouldn't be perceived as an indictment of TSA workers. But it may be an indictment of the particular assignments they've been given.
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Terrorism Threat Assessment
commentary
Islamic State's Global Expansion
Seth G. Jones
Jun 4, 2015
The Wall Street Journal
The radical Islamist group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, is now expanding in roughly a dozen countries across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia by exploiting local grievances, doling out money, and leveraging its battlefield successes.
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Emergency Preparedness
commentary
What the Ebola Crisis Taught Us About Emergency Preparedness in Africa
Adeyemi Theophilus Okunogbe
Jun 4, 2015
The RAND Blog
The 2014 Ebola outbreak was the most severe of its kind. At the height of the crisis, 800 to 1,000 new cases were reported per week in Africa across the three most heavily affected countries. As of last week, there were only 12 confirmed cases. What must be done to prevent and mitigate future crises of this nature?
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