August 2017

commentary
Why More Young Workers Are Relying on Financial Help from Parents
Kathryn A. Edwards @keds_economist
Aug 31, 2017
The RAND Blog
As today's young adults grapple with a difficult job market, high tuition costs, and rapidly rising rents, parents are increasingly providing financial support and other forms of assistance.
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Nation Building
commentary
President Trump's Recommitment to Nation-Building in Afghanistan
Laurel E. Miller
Aug 30, 2017
Newsweek
In his speech on Afghanistan, President Trump maintained his stance against nation-building. But like President Obama's policy, the refreshed approach hinges on the U.S. developing Afghan government capabilities to fight the Taliban, provide for the country's long-term security, and serve as a counterterrorism partner.
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commentary
Many Americans Face Bullying, Harassment, and Abuse at Work, but Bosses Can Help
Kathleen J. Mullen @KathleenJMullen, Jeffrey B. Wenger
Aug 30, 2017
The RAND Blog
Workers are experiencing high levels of hostile behaviors at work. Nearly one in five American workers have been subjected to some form of verbal abuse, unwanted sexual attention, threats, or humiliating behavior at work, with younger non-college educated workers bearing the most risk.
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Security Cooperation
commentary
Countering Chinese Coercion: The Case of Doklam
Oriana Skylar Mastro, Arzan Tarapore
Aug 29, 2017
War on the Rocks
India and China have agreed to end a two-month border confrontation in the Doklam area claimed by both China and Bhutan. The immediate crisis seems to be over, but it offers insights into Chinese coercive strategies and how they may be thwarted.
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Autonomous Vehicles
commentary
What Autonomous Vehicles Could Mean for American Workers
Nidhi Kalra
Aug 29, 2017
The RAND Blog
Autonomous vehicles are projected to hit American roads within the next few years. They promise safer transportation, greater mobility for millions of Americans, and other benefits. But they will also have enormous impacts on the workforce.
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Terrorism Financing
commentary
Hezbollah Has Been Active in America for Decades
Colin P. Clarke
Aug 28, 2017
The National Interest
Hezbollah has been active inside the United States for decades, engaging in a range of activities that include fundraising and money laundering. The U.S. and its allies should continue to combat the financing of terrorism and take action against the funding of terrorist groups on U.S. soil.
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Mental Health and Illness
commentary
Why the Mental Ill Health of Academic Researchers Remains a Hidden Problem
Susan Guthrie, Catherine A. Lichten
Aug 28, 2017
Times Higher Education
The mental health and well-being of higher education staff is a significant challenge, probably even more so than the evidence indicates.
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commentary
Campaign for Fair Food Makes a Real Difference
Susan L. Marquis @susanlmarquis
Aug 25, 2017
Tampa Bay Times
The Fair Food Program protects farmworkers while providing corporations with transparency in their supply chains and tremendous brand protection. It has been widely recognized for improving agricultural working conditions and for changing the culture of America's farm fields.
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Communication Systems
blog
How RAND Helped Cable TV Spread Far and Wide
Aug 25, 2017
In the late 1960s and early '70s, RAND released a series of reports about cable television — the technology, federal and state regulation, and its use in education. The researchers' interactive vision for cable TV was a lot like the internet.
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Health Insurance Cost Sharing
commentary
Four Steps That Could Stabilize the Health Insurance Market
Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner
Aug 25, 2017
The Hill
Congress will soon discuss options to stabilize the individual market and ensure that all Americans have access to affordable coverage. Policymakers could encourage enrollment, make targeted investments to lower premiums, fund cost-sharing reductions, and enforce the individual mandate.
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Nuclear Weapons and Warfare
commentary
'Game of Thrones' Dragons, Nuclear Weapons, and Winning Whatever the Cost
Michael Shurkin
Aug 24, 2017
Scientific American
HBO's hit series “Game of Thrones” may be fantasy, but it explores many challenges that are familiar to real-world leaders. The military use of dragons and the dilemma these beasts pose is one recent example.
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commentary
What Afghanistan Needs to Move Forward: A Political Solution
S. Rebecca Zimmerman
Aug 24, 2017
U.S. News & World Report
Although the U.S. military's role in maintaining stability has been crucial, a real solution needs to consider Afghan politics first. The United States and the international community should push for parliamentary elections to build confidence between the government and the people.
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Cybercrime
commentary
Gaming Policy in Cyberspace
Michelle Price, Igor Mikolic-Torreira
Aug 23, 2017
Policyforum.net
Hacked devices and intellectual property theft are a rich hunting ground for policy development. The challenge posed by Internet-connect devices is only getting worse as the number of online devices continues to grow.
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Political Reform Movements
q&a
The Post–Arab Spring Experience: Q&A with Shelly Culbertson
Aug 23, 2017
It's too early to say whether the Arab Spring will turn out to be a success or not. The Arab Spring was about people deciding what they did not want and rising up against it, but they hadn't worked out what they did want. Many of them still have hope.
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Afghanistan
commentary
Trump's New Afghanistan Strategy: Governing from the Center?
James Dobbins @Jim_Dobbins
Aug 22, 2017
The Hill
The president has embraced a national security establishment strategy for Afghanistan with a veneer that does not alter its essence. The result is likely to disappoint some of his supporters and to be criticized by his opponents, but it will also secure a measure of bipartisan support.
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Arms Proliferation and Control
commentary
How We Can Keep Iran from Becoming the Next North Korea
Michael J. Mazarr @MMazarr
Aug 22, 2017
Fortune
The United States brokered an agreement to constrain North Korea's nuclear program 25 years ago, but hard-liners abandoned it with vague intentions of coercing the North into something better. They never did, and now a runaway North Korean program poses real danger. This offers a powerful reason to preserve the Iran nuclear deal.
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North Korea
essay
Understanding North Korea
Aug 18, 2017
How should the United States respond to North Korea's provocative behavior? Even the best military options could be cataclysmically bad, but there are nonmilitary options to convince Kim Jong Un that the costs of his provocations outweigh any benefits.
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Counterterrorism
commentary
When the Car Is a Terror Weapon, Can We Prepare for Attacks?
Colin P. Clarke
Aug 18, 2017
The Globe and Mail
Soft targets are notoriously difficult to protect from terrorism. Terrorists' latest shift to using vehicles to conduct attacks only compounds the problem.
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Information Operations
commentary
The Islamic State May Be Failing, but Its Strategic Communications Legacy Is Here to Stay
Colin P. Clarke, Charlie Winter
Aug 17, 2017
War on the Rocks
The Islamic State's caliphate is collapsing but its legacy will live on virtually because of its information operations. The scale of the menace presented by the group today pales in comparison to other global challenges, yet it manages to dominate and terrorize the public mind.
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Personalized Learning
commentary
What Emerging Research Says About the Promise of Personalized Learning
John F. Pane @JohnFPane
Aug 16, 2017
Brookings Institution's Brown Center Chalkboard
Personalized learning could lead to improved student outcomes. But those implementing this approach should temper their expectations for how big these benefits will be—and be patient while the benefits emerge. It's also important to consider the challenges of implementation.
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Global Climate Change
commentary
Another Casualty of Climate Change: Peace
Gulrez Shah Azhar
Aug 15, 2017
Project Syndicate
The connection between human conflict and climate change is no mere coincidence. Drought, temperature and tensions rise in tandem, with the implicit threat of violent conflict not far behind.
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Mental Health and Illness
commentary
Why the IPS Success Story Needs to Be Unpicked
Joanna Hofman @JoannaBHofman
Aug 15, 2017
The RAND Blog
The Individual Placement and Support model, which helps people with severe mental illness gain employment, has been a major statistical success. Why does it work and how it might be applied to other vulnerable populations?
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Chemical Weapons and Warfare
commentary
Assad's Attacks Should Not Be Repeated, Forgotten, or Excused
Ted Clark
Aug 15, 2017
Foreign Policy Concepts
Despite signing the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty in October 2013, Assad has continued chemical attacks on the Syrian opposition. To counter Assad and others who might turn to the use of chemical weapons, the U.S. could collaborate with other major powers to bolster the international ban on them.
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Global Security
commentary
Dealing with Global Hot Spots in Times of Domestic Upheaval
David C. Gompert
Aug 14, 2017
Fox News Channel
The United States faces growing dangers of war in three parts of the globe: North Korea, Syria, and the South China Sea. How will it manage any—let alone all—of them, especially with political turmoil at the highest levels at home?
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Military Acquisition and Procurement
commentary
Privatizing the Military Unlikely to Be a Viable Solution in Afghanistan
Molly Dunigan
Aug 14, 2017
The National Interest
Operational contractors are now an entrenched part of the Department of Defense’s total force and are here to stay. But replacing U.S. military personnel with contractors is not likely to be a militarily effective solution for the Afghanistan problem.
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North Korea
commentary
The North Korea Standoff: Have We Been Here Before?
James A. Thomson @thomson0145
Aug 14, 2017
Newsweek
How the United States responded to China's nuclear weapons program last century can provide lessons for today's debate about North Korea. For instance, the conclusion that the only option is deterrence is still sound.
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Arms Proliferation and Control
commentary
How Did North Korea Get Its Nuclear Capabilities So Far So Fast?
Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein
Aug 14, 2017
U.S. News & World Report
The recent North Korean missile tests and other provocations have sent shock waves through the global national security community and heightened tensions throughout the region. How has North Korea increased its missile capabilities so dramatically in such a short period of time?
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Nation Building
commentary
Islamic State 2.0
Seth G. Jones
Aug 10, 2017
The Wall Street Journal
Many of Iraq's Sunnis are frustrated with the slow pace of reconstruction and a Baghdad government they consider too friendly to Iran. The U.S. needs to shift from supporting military operations in cities such as Mosul to helping the Iraqi government better address political grievances. Failure risks sowing the seeds of ISIS's resurgence.
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Nuclear Deterrence
commentary
Contain, Deter, Transform: A Winning Strategy on North Korea
Michael J. Mazarr @MMazarr, Michael Johnson
Aug 9, 2017
The Hill
North Korea's missile tests and reported progress in nuclear warhead design have produced a volatile new urgency in U.S. policy. Contain, deter, and transform isn't a radical solution, but it's one that has worked before. This approach could preserve U.S. interests while avoiding war.
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Security Cooperation
commentary
Lowdown on Pyeongtaek Garrison
Bruce W. Bennett @bwbennett
Aug 8, 2017
The Korea Times
Camp Humphreys will become the major U.S. base in Korea. In terms of North Korean threats, the camp is roughly 100 kilometers from the Demilitarized Zone. Some North Korean ballistic missiles could cause damage at Camp Humphreys if it's targeted.
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Al Qaida
commentary
Will Al Qaeda Make a Comeback?
Seth G. Jones
Aug 7, 2017
Foreign Affairs
Al Qaeda's revival will likely hinge on its ability to take advantage of opportunities such as the withdrawal of counterterrorism forces from key battlefields, more revolt in the Middle East, U.S. or European policies that feed the perception of Muslim oppression, or the rise of a charismatic jihadist leader.
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Missile Defense
commentary
Why THAAD Is Needed in Korea
Bruce W. Bennett @bwbennett
Aug 7, 2017
The Korea Times
As the threat from North Korea has been developing over the last 30 years, the U.S. has responsibly deployed missile defenses in Korea to protect its forces and South Koreans. Today, North Korea's medium- and intermediate-range missiles require a defense able to handle higher missile re-entry speeds like the THAAD system.
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International Diplomacy
commentary
In Its Relations with Russia, Can the U.S. Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Time?
James Dobbins @Jim_Dobbins
Aug 6, 2017
U.S. News & World Report
A U.S. policy of unremitting hostility toward Russia won't command domestic support or secure European backing. Neither will a policy of comprehensive collaboration. Washington needs to confront Moscow where necessary and cooperate where possible.
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Military Acquisition and Procurement
commentary
Is It a Good Idea to Privatize the War in Afghanistan?
S. Rebecca Zimmerman
Aug 4, 2017
Newsweek
The CEO of the Blackwater Corporation has suggested that the U.S. should privatize the war in Afghanistan, and the administration is reportedly giving it some thought. It is important not to dismiss this plan categorically, but to consider it on the merits. Doing so highlights the risks of such a plan.
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United States
blog
RAND's Summer Reading List for Congress
Aug 4, 2017
Hill staffers can make the most of the Congressional recess with this list of must-read research and commentary on the policy issues they will be addressing this fall.
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Global Climate Change
commentary
When It Comes to Climate, Look for Vulnerabilities in Policy, Not Science
Benjamin Lee Preston @bl_preston, Nicholas E. Burger, Marjory S. Blumenthal @MarjorySB, Robert J. Lempert @RobertLempert, Debra Knopman
Aug 4, 2017
The Hill
Federal policymakers have picked up on the concept of red teaming — actively seeking out one's own vulnerabilities. While red teaming may not make sense for climate science, it does offer great benefits when weighing climate policy options.
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Visual Arts
blog
Why the Walls of RAND Are Filled with Contemporary Art
Aug 3, 2017
RAND's art collection is part of a culture that, not dissimilar to the art world, fosters creativity, inquisitiveness, and thinking outside the box.
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Middle East
commentary
State Competition, Not Sectarianism, Key Driver of Middle East Politics
Dalia Dassa Kaye
Aug 3, 2017
Axios
Sectarianism is real and dangerous in the Middle East, but the region is more complicated. The next leaders in Iran and Saudi Arabia, under pressure from youthful populations and worsening economic challenges, may no longer see value in a costly sectarian agenda.
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Gender Equity in the Workplace
commentary
Cybersecurity Badge: One Big Step for Girl Scouts, Potentially Giant Leap for Women
Lara Schmidt
Aug 3, 2017
USA Today
The Girl Scouts will start offering 18 cybersecurity badges next year. In addition to exposing girls to cyber concepts and challenges, this could encourage them to pursue cybersecurity or other STEM careers in which women are underrepresented.
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Asymmetric Warfare
commentary
Five Lessons from Israel's Wars in Gaza
Raphael S. Cohen
Aug 3, 2017
War on the Rocks
After a decade of operating against Hamas in Gaza, the Israel Defense Force has learned many lessons about urban warfare against hybrid adversaries. The last confrontation teaches five basic lessons that apply well beyond Gaza.
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China
q&a
Enhancing China's Status as a Great Power
Aug 1, 2017
The Cipher Brief
China is investing heavily in its military modernization program as it aims to extend its power in the region as well as globally. How will China's growing ability to project power affect U.S. regional goals?
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College-Bound Students
commentary
National Database Could Help Students Pick College—and Income
Charles A. Goldman
Aug 1, 2017
RealClearEducation
A bill introduced in May would create a searchable database of students' college majors and earnings after graduation. The data could help U.S. students make informed decisions and could also be used to better allocate resources that benefit students.
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commentary
American Retrenchment Is a Golden Oldie
James Dobbins @Jim_Dobbins
Aug 1, 2017
The Wall Street Journal
Isolationism is a recurring temptation of American foreign policy. Responding to new and unforeseen challenges, however, the United States has repeatedly resisted that temptation and risen to the demands of global leadership. Is it different today?
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