2019

Drug Markets and Supply
commentary
What Will the Opioid Crisis Look Like in Five Years?
Jirka Taylor, Peter Reuter
Nov 18, 2019
Concord Monitor in New Hampshire
Despite variations in European opioid markets, there is an overarching commonality too: Once a synthetic opioid like fentanyl becomes dominant, it stays that way. The United States should prepare for fentanyl and other synthetic opioids as a lasting phenomenon. Learning from other countries' experiences is an important part of that effort.
Read More »

Caregivers
commentary
Recognizing Family Caregivers as Part of the Health Care Team
Esther M. Friedman, Patricia K. Tong
Nov 18, 2019
The RAND Blog
Recent shifts in health care practices have left family caregivers increasingly responsible for medical tasks. Given family caregivers' central role in medical care, there are efforts underway to improve family caregiver integration into the health care team, but there are barriers to effective integration and engagement.
Read More »
Vietnam
commentary
Vietnam Needs to 'Struggle' More in the South China Sea
Derek Grossman @DerekJGrossman
Nov 15, 2019
The Diplomat
With the standoff between China and Vietnam at the disputed Vanguard Bank ended, it makes sense to take stock of how Hanoi's security strategy fared in countering Chinese coercion. It may be time for Vietnam to consider a careful recalibration to allow for more “struggle” and less “cooperation.”
Read More »
The Internet
blog
Disinformation, Drug Policy, Artificial Intelligence: RAND Weekly Recap
Nov 15, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on tools to fight disinformation online, the negative consequences of punishing pregnant women for drug use, how to ensure public trust in artificial intelligence, and more
Read More »
Nuclear Sciences
announcement
RAND Is Accepting Applications for Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowships
Nov 15, 2019
RAND is accepting applications for up to three Stanton Nuclear Security Fellows. The application deadline is January 21, 2020. The program was created to stimulate the development of the next generation of thought leaders on nuclear security.
Read More »
Global Climate Change
commentary
How Voters Can Assess New Climate Plans
Robert J. Lempert @RobertLempert
Nov 14, 2019
GreenBiz.com
While the U.S. government has announced its intention to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, most presidential candidates and many states have proposed climate plans of their own. How might voters determine if any of these plans can seriously address climate change?
Read More »
Political Reform Movements
commentary
Don't Overestimate the Power of Iraqi Protests
Jeffrey Martini, Ariane M. Tabatabai @ArianeTabatabai
Nov 14, 2019
Foreign Policy
As protests in Iraq grow, a “good news” narrative seems to be developing that they are a significant blow to Iranian influence. But the bigger story is not who is up and who is down between Washington and Tehran; it is that yet another Arab public has taken to the streets demanding change.
Read More »
Suicide
blog
Veterans, Autonomous Vehicles, Digital Protests: RAND Weekly Recap
Nov 8, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on preventing veteran suicide, who's responsible when a car is hacked, how digital protests can affect Fortune 500 companies, and more.
Read More »
Civic Education
commentary
The RAND Institute for Civil Justice: 40th Anniversary Reflections
Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich
Nov 6, 2019
The RAND Blog
For 40 years, the RAND Institute for Civil Justice (ICJ) has supplied government and private decisionmakers and the public with the results of objective, empirically based, analytic research. In this era of the diminishing role of facts and analysis in public life, or Truth Decay, the mission and research of the ICJ have never been more important.
Read More »
China
commentary
A New Phase in Middle-Power Adjustment to U.S.–China Competition?
Ali Wyne @Ali_Wyne, Bonnie S Glaser
Nov 5, 2019
The National Interest
Observers of world order focus inordinately on intensifying strategic competition between the United States and China. Less examined, but no less important, is how their competition is affecting geopolitics outside of the two countries.
Read More »
Security Cooperation
commentary
South Korea Should Consider Sticking with Intelligence-Sharing Pact with Japan
Scott W. Harold @ScottWHarold
Nov 5, 2019
The Diplomat
South Korea announced its intent to withdraw from an intelligence-sharing arrangement with Japan. There are four reasons that Seoul should strongly consider reversing course.
Read More »
Child Health
commentary
How a Poor Indoor Environment at Home Affects Children's Health in the EU
Daniel Gehrt
Nov 4, 2019
Encompass
One third of children in the EU are exposed to damp or mold, cold, darkness, and noise in their own homes. The good condition of homes should not only be seen as an issue of comfort, but as an essential basic requirement for good health of the residents, especially when they are families with children.
Read More »
Artificial Intelligence
commentary
First, Manage Security Threats to Machine Learning
Rand Waltzman, Thomas S. Szayna
Nov 4, 2019
War on the Rocks
Deception is as old as warfare itself. Until now, the targets of deception operations have been humans. But the introduction of machine learning and artificial intelligence opens up a whole new world of opportunities to deceive by targeting machines.
Read More »
Suicide
essay
More Can Be Done to Save Veterans from Suicide
Nov 4, 2019
A decade of research at RAND has sought to focus the national conversation about suicide in general, and veteran suicide in particular, around solutions that work. The overwhelming message: We could do more to save the lives of veterans like Daniel Somers. Here is his story.
Read More »
Domestic Terrorism
blog
White Supremacist Terrorism, Wildfires, the Dark Web: RAND Weekly Recap
Nov 1, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on violent white supremacy, power outages to prevent wildfires, how to catch criminals on the dark web, and more.
Read More »
Science of Science
commentary
What Is the Future of England's Research and Research Assessment?
Catriona Manville @CMManville
Nov 1, 2019
Wonkhe
Rapid technological developments, changes in public policy, and shifts in the international environment all affect academia. To help understand these effects, RAND researchers asked more than 3,600 academics in England how they expect their research to evolve over the next decade.
Read More »