Homeland Security Research Division

The RAND Homeland Security Research Division (HSRD) conducts research and analysis for the U.S. government; state, local, and tribal governments; and private foundations. HSRD operates the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center (HSOAC), an FFRDC operated by RAND under contract with the Department of Homeland Security.

Recent Commentary

  • The United States Needs a Moonshot to Prevent Extremism from Metastasizing

    Extremism is like cancer: It will always exist, but ignoring it runs the risk that it rears its ugly head, metastasizing throughout the country. The United States needs to ensure it has the proper tools to diagnose extremism in its earliest stages, and that the agencies tasked with protecting our democracy have the capability to get it into, and keep it in, remission.

    May 16, 2023

  • Enter Outer Space at Your Own Risk?

    Since 2004, federal law has barred most participant safety regulations and leaves nearly all issues of safety up to the discretion of the company providing the service. It's time to allow the moratorium on regulation to expire and allow the development of safety standards, led by the FAA.

    May 16, 2023

Explore Research on Homeland Security Issues

  • Report

    Labor Trafficking in the United States

    Reducing the prevalence of human trafficking is a national priority. In this report, researchers recommend a research agenda for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that would inform decisionmakers and assist operational partners in mitigating the crimes of labor trafficking and human trafficking more broadly.

    May 9, 2023

  • Report

    Community and Individual Disaster Resilience for Floods: Options for Improving Protective Action Guidance

    Drawing on a review of academic and grey literature, RAND researchers used a conceptual framework, which was operationalized to review Federal Emergency Management Agency flood protective action guidance. This study resulted in key findings and related recommendations that should help FEMA improve its flood communication strategy and messaging.

    May 8, 2023

More HSRD Publications

Hear More from RAND

  • The Policy Currents Podcast

    Policy Currents is a weekly podcast that highlights new research findings, commentary, multimedia, and events from the RAND Corporation. Hosted by Evan Banks and Deanna Lee.