Congressional Newsletter

National Security

Photos by Pichi Chuang/Reuters and pete/CC by 2.0

What Would Happen If China ‘Quarantines’ Taiwan?

China recently asserted that the Taiwan Strait is not an international waterway, a claim that the United States government has rejected. What would happen if China were to take further coercive action against Taiwan and implement a quarantine?

A new RAND report considers how China might enact a “coercive quarantine” of Taiwan—isolating the island to cut off imports and exports—and how the United States could respond. Regardless of how it is imposed, a quarantine is not a low-risk alternative and is likely to rapidly escalate to use of force. The authors write that the risks of escalation and war could be reduced with several measures.
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National Security Research Division

A Taliban leader Mullah Baradar Akhund hosted reception for a group of ambassadors to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on October 1, 2021, photo by EyePress via Reuters

EyePress via Reuters

Engage, Isolate, or Oppose: American Policy Toward the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

James Dobbins et al.

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Aly Song/Reuters

Bridging the Gap: Assessing U.S. Business Community Support for U.S.-China Competition

Bonny Lin et al.

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A Flight Commander Course student interacts with artificial intelligence in a live simulation on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, September 27, 2019, images by A1C Ariel Owings/U.S. Air Force and Jamesteohart/Adobe Stock; design by Carol Ponce/RAND Corporation

Images by A1C Ariel Owings/U.S. Air Force and Jamesteohart/Adobe Stock; Design by Carol Ponce/RAND Corporation

Exploring the Civil-Military Divide over Artificial Intelligence

James Ryseff et al.

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A collage of the COVID-19 virus, armed terror groups, and a biological response team

RAND Corporation

Implications of the Pandemic for Terrorist Interest in Biological Weapons: Islamic State and al-Qaeda Pandemic Case Studies

John V. Parachini et al.

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U.S. Army Capt. Mario Vergara (right) discusses COVID-19 testing procedures and best practices with health care staff at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, April 23, 2021, photo by Marcy Sanchez/DVIDS

Marcy Sanchez/DVIDS

Burnout: Definition, Prevalence, Risk Factors, Prevention, and Interventions Literature Reviews

Kathryn E. Bouskill et al.

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Project Air Force

LSOphoto/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Is Today’s U.S. Air Force Fit? It Depends on How Fitness Is Measured

Sean Robson et al.

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Airman 1st Class Isaac O. Guest IV/U.S. Air Force

Physical Fitness Standards to Support Readiness and Deployability: An Examination of Department of the Air Force Policies and Culture

Miriam Matthews et al.

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Ali Albahri/AdobeStock

Road to Damascus: The Russian Air Campaign in Syria, 2015 to 2018

Michael Simpson et al.

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Senior Airman Melissa Estevez/U.S. Air Force

A Snapshot of the Department of the Air Force Total Force Recruiting Integration: Survey Results and Implications

Tracy C. Krueger et al.

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denisismagilov/AdobeStock

Contractor Risk and Performance Indicators: Prototype Functional Specification and Developer Document

James Ryseff et al.

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Airman 1st Class Jose Miguel T. Tamondong/U.S. Air Force

Early Predictive Indicators of Contractor Performance: A Data-Analytic Approach

Philip S. Anton et al.

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Senior Airman Ryan Lackey/U.S. Air Force

Assessing the Association Between Airmen Participation in Force Support Squadron Programs and Unit Cohesion: An Evaluation of the UNITE Initiative

Stephanie Brooks Holliday et al.

Read the report »
Read the executive summary »

Tech. Sgt. Samuel King, Jr./U.S. Air Force

Improving Workforce Diversity and Inclusion

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Tech. Sgt. Samuel King, Jr./U.S. Air Force

Research on Air Force Health and Health Care

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Army Research Division

Jack Bunja/U.S. Army

Leveraging Machine Learning for Operation Assessment

Daniel Egel et al.

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Elvert Barnes Photography/CC BY-SA 2.0

Do National Security Communication Campaigns Work? Taking a Lesson from the Public Health Sector

Todd C. Helmus et al.

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A soldier from the 642nd Aviation Support Battalion meditates during a lunch break

Genesis Miranda/U.S. Army

The Impact of Mindfulness Meditation Programs on Performance-Related Outcomes: Implications for the U.S. Army

Kimberly A. Hepner et al.

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RAND Congressional Resources Staff

Jayme Fuglesten
Director, Office of Congressional Relations

Kurt Card
National Security Legislative Analyst

Nathaniel Lutovsky
Legislative Analyst

Experts and Research Available to You

Members of Congress and staff can receive free copies of RAND reports and engage with researchers. To request reports, briefings, or meetings, or to invite researchers to testify, please contact ocr@rand.org.

Learn more at rand.org/congress.

Countering Truth Decay

“Truth Decay,” the diminishing role of facts in U.S. public life, poses a grave threat to evidence-based policymaking and to American democracy. RAND continues to study this phenomenon to learn more about its causes, consequences, and potential solutions.

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The Congressional Relations’ National Security newsletter includes the latest research by RAND’s three national security Federally Funded Research and Development Centers.

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