May 2020

Wargaming
commentary
How Can Wargaming Improve Government Response to Catastrophic Events?
Sebastian Joon Bae
May 29, 2020
War Room
Wargames are abstracted models of national security challenges, where players' decisions and their consequences are adjudicated within a rules-based environment. Due to its inherent flexibility as a tool, wargaming can be applied to a wide range of issues. Yet, it is important to understand what wargaming can and cannot do.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
COVID-19's Effects on U.S. Schools, Vaccine Uptake, Small Businesses: RAND Weekly Recap
May 29, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on how COVID-19 has affected U.S. schools, potential barriers to vaccine uptake, what small businesses need to survive, and more.
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Health Care Reform
commentary
Options for Designing a Public Option
Michael Cohen, Al Bingham, Stan Dorn, Jodi L. Liu @jodilliu, Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner
May 28, 2020
The RAND Blog
State and federal policymakers are considering adding state-backed public options to the individual market in an effort to expand health coverage and improve affordability. We analyzed what would happen if public options became available in U.S. health insurance exchanges.
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Workforce Management
commentary
To Preserve Jobs, America's Employers May Have to Get Creative
Jason M. Ward
May 26, 2020
CNN
With about 38.6 million Americans filing for unemployment insurance benefits since the end of February, it is clear that COVID-19 has turned the world of work upside down. One way to reduce the economic damage may be job-sharing, an approach that focuses on maximizing jobs by reducing workers' hours rather than resorting to layoffs or furloughs.
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Disadvantaged Students
commentary
Emergency COVID-19 Aid Helps College Students with Food and Housing: Four Ways Colleges Can Maintain That Support
Lindsay Daugherty, Drew M. Anderson @DrewMAnderson
May 26, 2020
The RAND Blog
COVID-19 has expanded the pool of cash-strapped college students, but many were already struggling before the pandemic. The crisis could draw attention to food and housing insecurity among college students, and give college leaders a chance to consider how to address these needs more systematically over the long term.
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International Diplomacy
commentary
Why the United States Will Need a New Foreign Policy in 2020
Raphael S. Cohen
May 26, 2020
The Hill
Even before the pandemic, the United States faced a growing strategic predicament: U.S. challenges are mounting, and America's international commitments increasingly outstrip its means to fulfill them.
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Data Analysis
q&a
Modeling the Future of COVID-19: Q&A with RAND Experts
May 26, 2020
The phrase “flatten the curve” familiarized Americans with epidemiological models used to estimate virus transmission, cases, and potential deaths from COVID-19. But new models are needed as the country enters a different stage of the crisis.
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Educational Technology
commentary
How COVID-19 Affected the Nation's Schools: New Data Gives Insights for Planning
Laura S. Hamilton
May 26, 2020
The RAND Blog
RAND surveyed teachers and principals to gauge how the pandemic has affected schooling, what supports these educators need, and how they are thinking about the next school year.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
What Happens When States Reopen, Truth Decay, Telemedicine: RAND Weekly Recap
May 22, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on the health and economic consequences of states reopening, the dangers of Truth Decay during the coronavirus crisis, helping refugees, and more.
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Vaccination
commentary
Vaccination and Coronavirus: Where the Public Good Clashes with Choice and Freedom
Alina I. Palimaru, Marcus Dillistone
May 22, 2020
United Press International
With scientists striving for a viable coronavirus vaccine, and public health officials considering its potential rollout, do calls for freedom of choice and anti-vaccination sentiments, as seen in recent televised protests, represent a worrying omen?
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Russia
commentary
Russia's Challenge and Syria's Chance
Colin P. Clarke, William Courtney @courtneywmh
May 20, 2020
Newsweek
With much of Syria lying in ruins, Russia can back a revived United Nations–led peacemaking process, or see the West rebuff its appeals for large-scale aid. If Russia chooses wisely, the West, wealthy Gulf countries, and China could help. If Moscow procrastinates, the West may withhold assistance and continue cooperation with regional partners.
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China
commentary
China's Aggression Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Little to Do with COVID-19
Derek Grossman @DerekJGrossman
May 20, 2020
World Politics Review
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to monopolize the attention of leaders around the world, some international observers of China have concluded that Beijing is attempting to exploit the crisis for geopolitical gain. The reality is that China has been engaging in the same types of pressure tactics for years and will likely continue once the pandemic passes.
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North Korea
commentary
North Korea Post–Kim Jong Un Reappearance: Expect Business as Usual in the Hermit Kingdom
Soo Kim @mllesookim
May 19, 2020
The National Interest
Kim Jong Un's return, while it leaves much to be desired in the way of explanation, should send one message to the international audience: North Korea's fate rests still in the hands of Kim Jong Un. And judging by appearances in recent days, Kim does not appear to intend to change the course of his strategy to reduce tensions with the United States.
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HIV and AIDS
blog
RAND's Response to a Past Pandemic: HIV/AIDS
May 19, 2020
In the 1980s, HIV/AIDS killed 90 percent of those infected. RAND was at the forefront of the research response, providing key data on costs of care, barriers to access, and the disease's effects on quality of life. RAND continues to pursue ways to ease HIV's impact in the United States and Africa.
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Decisionmaking
commentary
Relaxing COVID-19 Restrictions Presents Stark Health and Economic Choices
Jeanne S. Ringel @JeanneRingel, Raffaele Vardavas, Aaron Strong
May 18, 2020
The RAND Blog
RAND's new COVID-19 interventions impact tool uses epidemiological and economic models and continually refreshed data to estimate what could happen as restrictions are eased. The tool won't make the choices confronting state leaders less painful. But it can provide clear, evidence-based estimates of the health and economic trade-offs.
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Refugees
commentary
How to Help Refugees and Host Countries Combat COVID-19
Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson, Gary Edson
May 18, 2020
The National Interest
Having escaped conflict and persecution, refugees now risk illness and death from COVID-19. That risk is heightened by a policy regime that focuses largely on refugees in camps, not the almost two-thirds who live in urban areas. But the crisis could provide an opportunity to reform a broken system for the benefit of refugees and host countries alike.
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