National Security
Congressional Newsletter
This monthly bulletin summarizes national security documents published by the RAND Corporation in the last month. Click on any link to view the full text of the study.
To request free copies of RAND publications, write to ocr@rand.org.
Past issues of this bulletin can be viewed in the archive section of RAND's Web site for Congress.
July 2006
Contents:
A. NEW RELEASES
1. Occasional Papers
A BRIEF ANALYSIS OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA'S DEFENSE REFORM PLAN
Author: Bruce Bennett
At the request of Republic of Korea (ROK) Assemblyman Jin-Ha Hwang, a member of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, the author conducted this analysis of the ROK Defense Reform Plan (DRP). The occasional paper examines the overall nature of the DRP, identifies major risks in the plan, and discusses how those risks can be managed. It concludes that the DRP is a good approach to potential ROK security dilemmas but that the plan faces major risks, especially in meeting potential ROK security requirements. The DRP could be strengthened by adding concepts for managing its major risks. This paper discusses the background of the DRP and the manpower problem it needs to address. It then presents the author's estimates of the force changes that would occur and how those forces appear to fit the force requirements the ROK will likely face in the coming years. It examines the budget requested for the DRP and whether it will cover the necessary costs, addresses the effects that the DRP could have on ROK military morale and how the United States may view the DRP, and concludes by recommending steps the ROK could take to manage the key risks identified throughout this analysis.
Read the Occasional Paper: http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP165/
2. Reports
LEVERAGING AMERICA'S AIRCRAFT CARRIER CAPABILITIES: EXPLORING NEW COMBAT AND NONCOMBAT ROLES AND MISSIONS FOR THE U.S. CARRIER FLEET
Authors: John Gordon IV, Peter Wilson, John Birkler, Steven Boraz, and Gordon Lee
As the United States seeks ways to stretch its defense dollars, pursue the Global War on Terrorism, and meet other national-security challenges, policymakers will very likely increase their reliance on aircraft carriers, using them more often and in more situations than they have in the past, especially if the vessels have the additional capabilities to respond appropriately.
The current and expected use of aircraft carriers led the United States Navy in the fall of 2004 to commission RAND to explore new and nontraditional ways that the United States might be able to employ aircraft carriers in pursuit of traditional and emerging military and homeland defense missions. Over six months, RAND created and convened two Concept Options Groups (COGs), small groups of experienced military and civilian experts, defense analysts, and potential users who work together to identify promising ways to employ military might in nontraditional ways, to explore possible nontraditional roles for aircraft carriers. One COG explored and identified new ways that aircraft carriers could be used in combat operations; the second COG examined ways that the vessels could be used in noncombat, homeland security missions or to help the nation recover from terrorist attacks or natural disasters in U.S. territories.
Among the combat recommendations to come from the COG insights are that abilities need to be enhanced to reconfigure carrier air wings; among the noncombat recommendations are that the availability of nonready carriers to respond to unforeseen crises needs to be improved. This report summarizes the activities, findings, and recommendations of both carrier COGs. It should be of special interest to the Navy and to uniformed and civilian decisionmakers with responsibilities related to naval and carrier operations, maritime domain awareness, or homeland security.
Read the Report: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG448/
CENTRAL ASIA AND ITS ASIAN NEIGHBORS: SECURITY AND COMMERCE AT THE CROSSROADS
Author: Rollie Lal
The Asian states neighboring Central Asia have historic links and strong interests in the region. China, Iran, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan are critical players in the security and economic issues that will determine the future of Central Asia and affect U.S. interests in the region. By assessing the developing relations between Central Asia and its Asian neighbors, it is evident that each country stands to benefit from stability and economic growth in Central Asia, but opinion toward U.S. presence and policy in the region could be a point of conflict. The purpose of this report is to assess the nature of Asian states' interest and influence in Central Asia to determine the development of these relationships and how they will shape strategic dynamics of Asia in the coming years.
Read the Research Brief: http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB196/index1.html
Read the Report: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG440/
THE GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION 2020, IN-DEPTH ANALYSES: BIO/NANO/MATERIALS/INFORMATION TRENDS, DRIVERS, BARRIERS, AND SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Authors: Richard Silberglitt, Philip Antón, David Howell, Anny Wong with Natalie Gassman, Brian Jackson, Eric Landree, Shari Lawrence Pfleeger, Elaine Newton, and Felicia Wu
In 2020, areas of particular importance for technology trends will include biotechnology, nanotechnology, materials technology, and information technology. The authors of this report assessed a sample of 29 countries across the spectrum of scientific advancement (low to high) with respect to their ability to acquire and implement 16 key technology applications (e.g., cheap solar energy, rural wireless communications, genetically modified crops). The report's major conclusions are that scientifically advanced countries such as the United States, Germany, and Japan will be able to implement all key technology applications evaluated; countries that are not scientifically advanced will have to develop significant capacity and motivation before barriers to technology implementation can be overcome; and public policy issues in certain areas will engender public debate and strongly influence technology implementation.
Read the Research Brief: http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9179/index1.html
Read the Report: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG475/
Read the Technical Report: http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR303/
3. Technical Reports
OPTIONS FOR TRANSITIONAL SECURITY CAPABILITIES FOR AMERICA
Author: Terrence Kelly
In Iraq and elsewhere, the United States finds itself in need of a law enforcement capability for stability operations. How should such a force be created and what specific capabilities should it embody? This technical report examines the characteristics of such a force and the functional and organizational challenges that must be faced in creating it. The author evaluates five major options, both civilian and military, for creating these forces and assesses each option under nine criteria for effectiveness. He concludes by giving a clear picture of each option's relative strengths and weaknesses and suggests areas to be examined to complete the picture of how best to create the force.
Read the Technical Report: http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR353/
IMPACTS OF THE FLEET RESPONSE PLAN ON SURFACE COMBATANT MAINTENANCE
Authors: Roland Yardley, Raj Raman, Jessie Riposo, James Chiesa, and John Schank
To achieve a more responsive and more readily deployable fleet of surface combatants, the Navy adopted the Fleet Response Plan (FRP) in 2003 to replace its traditional ship maintenance and readiness cycle. The goal of the FRP is to have non-deployed ships achieve a high level of readiness earlier and to maintain high readiness longer so that such ships can deploy on short notice. However, a challenge of implementing the FRP is establishing the processes and procedures, as well as a ready industrial base, to facilitate maintenance planning and execution to meet the now unpredictable FRP surge requirements and maintenance demands. By concentrating specifically on the DDG-51 class of destroyers, the authors of this technical report look at the effects the FRP has had thus far and determine whether maintenance resources are meeting maintenance demands and whether related industry resources have been coordinated effectively. Overall, the authors determine that the initiative appears to have promising effects but that more time will be needed to assess maintenance supply and demand apart from the increase of funding tied to military operations post–September 11, 2001.
Read the Technical Report: http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR358/
4. Conference Proceedings
THE MIDDLE EAST: THE CHANGING STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT
Author: F. Stephen Larrabee
On June 26-28, 2005, the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy held their sixth annual conference in Gstaad, Switzerland. The conference was devoted to a dialogue on “The Middle East: Changing Strategic Environment.” Participants discussed democracy and stability in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Palestine, and Israel; the situation in Iraq; Iran's nuclear program; the roles of the United States, the EU, and the UN Security Council in promoting stability and change in the region; strategies for countering Islamic terrorism; and developments in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Read the Conference Proceedings: http://www.rand.org/pubs/conf_proceedings/CF223/
5. Reprints
A NEW IO STRATEGY: PREVENTION AND DISENGAGEMENT
Authors: Edward O'Connell and Cheryl Benard
The insurgency in Iraq is increasingly carried out by paid-for-hire recruits and youth. The authors of this piece believe that to counter this, U.S. forces must focus their efforts on both preventing the enemy foot-soldiers from joining the battle and on disengaging them or dissuading, deterring, and turning them when possible. Only such a novel and proactive approach will yield the results we desire.
Read the Reprint: http://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/RP1223/
USING BIOMETRICS TO ACHIEVE IDENTITY DOMINANCE IN THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM
Author: John Woodward
In the Global War On Terrorism, the relevance of biometric technology has grown exponentially. The military must achieve identity dominance, where U.S. military forces have the distinct ability to separate friend from foe by linking people to their previous identities and past terrorist or criminal activities. We can use biometric technology to achieve identity dominance and must deploy it to meet the requirements of force protection, actionable intelligence, and law enforcement. Establishing identity dominance through a comprehensive Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) will enable the U.S. military to identify friend or foe to keep America safer. This article was originally published in the September/October 2005 issue of Military Review and is included as a RAND reprint because its analysis is relevant to RAND's work for the Department of Defense Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO).
Read the Reprint: http://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/RP1194/
6. Testimony
FEDERAL AGENCIES CAN ADAPT BEST COMMERCIAL PRACTICE TO IMPROVE THEIR ACQUISITION OF SERVICES
Author: Frank Camm
Testimony presented to the Acquisition Advisory Panel on April 21, 2006.
Read the Testimony: http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/CT261/
7. Commentary
The following is a list of national security related commentary pieces that RAND researchers have contributed to newspapers in the past month. To retrieve past commentary pieces, please visit RAND's Commentary page: http://www.rand.org/commentary/
ZARQAWI DEATH WON'T END WAR
Author: Farhana Ali (United Press International)
Read the Commentary: http://www.rand.org/commentary/2006/06/10/UPI.html
HOW IRAQ'S NEIGHBOURS CAN STEER IT AWAY FROM DESTRUCTION
Author: David Aaron (Financial Times)
Read the Commentary: http://www.rand.org/commentary/2006/06/07/FT.html
B. ABOUT RAND
For nearly 60 years, decisionmakers in the public and private sectors have turned to the RAND Corporation for objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the nation and the world. These challenges include such critical social and economic issues as education, poverty, crime, and health, as well as a range of national security issues.
Today, RAND researchers and analysts continue to be on the cutting edge of their fields, working with decisionmakers in both the public and private sectors to find solutions to today's difficult, sensitive, and important problems. Through its dedication to high-quality and objective research and analysis and with sophisticated analytical tools developed over many years, RAND is engaged with its clients to create knowledge, insight, information, options, and solutions that will be both effective and enduring.
Read more
C. SUBSCRIPTION AND ORDERING INFORMATION
This bulletin has been sent to you as a courtesy update on RAND's ongoing national security research.
To unsubscribe, please write to ocr@rand.org or call (703) 413-1100 extension 5781.
To request a FREE copy of any RAND publication, please write to ocr@rand.org, or call (703) 413-1100 extension 5781.
RAND can also provide briefings, research assistance, testimony, and other services to Congressional offices.