2016

Nuclear Deterrence
blog
The Return of a Cold War Threat
Nov 15, 2016
The danger of blundering into a nuclear war through miscalculation or human error has returned, said former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry at RAND's Politics Aside event. No leader is seeking nuclear war, but there are new dangers that didn't exist during the Cold War that could lead to one.
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Data Analysis
blog
The Art of Data in Baseball
Nov 15, 2016
The traditional baseball scout's keen eye is no longer deemed sufficient to rate talent, said Jeff Luhnow, general manager of the Houston Astros, at RAND's Politics Aside event. Analysts check curveball spin rates, computer-modeled swing mechanics, and even sleep habits.
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National Security Organizations
blog
Making National Security Decisions
Nov 15, 2016
In a crisis, there's a tendency in government to add more people to address the problem, but doing so often slows decisionmaking. It's easier to invent something new rather than require the agency to fix problems in the existing structure.
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Security Cooperation
commentary
Is the U.S. Abandoning the World Order It Created?
James Dobbins @Jim_Dobbins
Nov 14, 2016
Newsweek
In the 20th century the United States created and expanded a world order that has provided security and prosperity, and it has borne much of the cost for sustaining it. Can that liberal global order be updated rather than jettisoned?
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Counterinsurgency
commentary
What the Battles of Mosul and Aleppo Tell Us About Their Countries' Futures
Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins
Nov 14, 2016
The Hill
The battle of Mosul is not just about defeating ISIS. It is about restoring Mosul to the multi-ethnic city it once was. The Syrian government's style of warfare in Aleppo, however, accepts that Syria will remain a divided country.
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Survey Research Methodology
commentary
Why the Polls Were Wrong
Michael S. Pollard @MichaelSPollard
Nov 14, 2016
U.S. News & World Report
RAND's Presidential Election Panel Survey, like other polls, overpredicted the popular vote. But since it focused on the decisionmaking process and how that translated into behaviors, the data could provide deep insights into what happened and how it took pollsters by surprise.
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Infrastructure Finance
commentary
The Road Ahead: Rebuilding the Country's Infrastructure in the Trump Administration Era
Liisa Ecola
Nov 14, 2016
The RAND Blog
Policymakers generally agree on the need to rebuild America's infrastructure. But the country is far behind in this area. Why? Transportation projects take time and money. And it's hard to predict how a project will affect its surroundings.
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Globalization
blog
Who Wins Globalization?
Nov 14, 2016
While more needs to be done for those who once worked in industries such as furniture manufacturing, where essentially all activity has moved to lower-cost nations, the U.S. is starting to see an increase in manufacturing activity because of new types of technological advances.
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Autonomous Vehicles
q&a
Autonomous Vehicles: Imagining the Day-to-Day of the Future
Nov 14, 2016
At RAND's 2016 Politics Aside event, Nidhi Kalra and Timothy Bonds discuss what daily life might be like once autonomous vehicles populate the roads.
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Emerging Technologies
blog
The Price of Personalized Health Care
Nov 13, 2016
Medical care in the United States is entering an era where technology can give patients more control over their care and let them take control of their health data.
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International Diplomacy
blog
Pulling Up the Drawbridge 'Is Fundamentally Flawed'
Nov 13, 2016
Turning inward in response to rapid global change overstates the costs of doing so and downplays the benefits of facing outward.
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The Internet
blog
Social Media's Role in the Erosion of Truth
Nov 12, 2016
The firehose of information on social media makes it hard for people to distinguish between sources that are credible and those that aren't.
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Data Science
blog
Getting the Most Out of Data Science
Nov 12, 2016
Policymakers should pursue efforts to assure that the array of data collected by the federal government benefits all Americans by improving the availability, reliability, and transparency of the information, said DJ Patil, the United States' chief data scientist, at RAND's 2016 Politics Aside event.
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Politics and Government
blog
'Truth Decay' Makes Facts Subjective and Polarization More Extreme
Nov 12, 2016
"When everyone has their own facts, then nobody really has any facts at all," said President and CEO Michael Rich at RAND's Politics Aside event. Truth Decay pushes political polarization to even greater extremes and prevents policymakers from reaching consensus on solutions to the nation's biggest challenges.
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The Islamic State (Terrorist Organization)
commentary
How Will Jihadist Strategy Evolve As the Islamic State Declines?
Colin P. Clarke, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Nov 10, 2016
War on the Rocks
As ISIL experiences ongoing battlefield losses it will have to rework its strategy to sustain itself as a preeminent jihadist brand. Meanwhile, the group will likely place greater emphasis on smaller scale strikes that require less central direction.
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