The U.S. strategic focus has increasingly turned to major-power competition, but there is currently no framework for understanding U.S. competition with near-peer rivals China and Russia. This report provides a broad-based understanding of the economic, geopolitical, and military dimensions of these competitions and identifies recommendations for strategic policy action and investment.
Russia perceives itself as the weaker power in the confrontation with the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The authors assess the orientation of Russian military strategy from a position of overall weakness based the following factors: the balance of power, Russian diplomacy with China, views on future war, and trends in force readiness and mobilization.
Policymakers and scholars gathered on September 15, 2022 to discuss the impact of the war in Ukraine on the Indo-Pacific. Presenters examined the conflict from the perspective of Japan and the United States as well as the possible impact it may have on the international order. Admiral (Retired) Harry B. Harris, Jr., former Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command and United States Ambassador to the Republic of Korea gave the keynote presentation.
The authors of this Perspective contend that the United States should view emerging strategic rivalries with Russia, and especially China, in systemic terms. That means a constant effort to place individual actions in the context of systemic realities, and to appreciate the nature of systems as opposed to discrete, issue-specific strategies.
To respond effectively to a competitor's activities in the gray zone, it is important to understand how they leverage information, the ends that gray zone activities serve, and the capabilities and authorities needed to respond. A detailed enumeration of these activities, a synthesis of expert consensus on challenges to gray zone competition, and a dynamic menu of solutions can enhance the U.S. competitive position in the gray zone and beyond.
This report is intended to inform U.S. personnel, NATO Allies, and other Euro-Atlantic governments of the Defense Education Enhancement Program's status from 2018 to 2020, its opportunities and challenges, and ways the program can be improved. For institutional capacity building practitioners, this report also offers general lessons on how professional military education can support institutional change, sustainment, and development.
RAND researchers reviewed a variety of Chinese and Russian primary sources, such as government publications, military journals, academic reports, and domestic media, to assess how Chinese and Russian internal perceptions of and reactions to U.S. military space-related activities and policies have evolved over time. This report presents the results of their analysis.
The authors analyze Russian coercive signaling activities toward the United States and its allies in recent years to provide a better understanding of the drivers of Moscow's behavior and practical guidelines for assessing future events. They assess Russian signaling activities through a review of Russian strategic writing, a quantitative modeling effort, and qualitative case studies.
The cover story is a profile of RAND's new president and CEO. Other features explore how teachers and principals have been faring in the COVID era and how to improve media literacy among middle schoolers.
Information confrontation has become an important and distinct element of Russian strategy. Russia sees itself as being in a constant state of information confrontation with the West. The authors examine prevailing definitions and types of information confrontation, as well as the historical evolution of influence operations and psychological warfare. They then use the Ukraine experience to examine Russian information confrontation in practice.
