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Experts Guide

RAND has more than 300 research professionals available for comment to policymakers, journalists, and public officials. Our expertise spans a wide range of public policy issues that impact people around the world including security, health, education, sustainability, growth, and development.

To request an interview, contact the Office of Media Relations at (703) 414-4795 or by email at media@rand.org.

Search the Experts Guide by Name or Area of Expertise

  • A view of the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where nearly 80,000 Syrian refugees were living in March 2017

    Q&A

    The Post-Arab Spring Experience: Q&A with Shelly Culbertson

    It's too early to say whether the Arab Spring will turn out to be a success or not. It was about people in the region deciding what they did not want and rising up against it, but they hadn't worked out what they did want. Many of them still have hope.

    Aug 23, 2017

  • Hacked internet of things

    Commentary

    Gaming Policy in Cyberspace

    Hacked devices and intellectual property theft are a rich hunting ground for policy development. The challenge posed by Internet-connect devices is only getting worse as the number of online devices continues to grow.

    Aug 23, 2017

  • Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif greets United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the U.N. headquarters in New York City, July 17, 2017

    Commentary

    How We Can Keep Iran from Becoming the Next North Korea

    The U.S. brokered an agreement to constrain North Korea's nuclear program 25 years ago but hard-liners abandoned it with vague intentions of coercing the North into something better. They never did, and now a runaway North Korean program poses real danger. This offers a powerful reason to preserve the Iranian nuclear deal.

    Aug 22, 2017

  • U.S. President Donald Trump announces his strategy for the war in Afghanistan during an address to the nation from Fort Myer, Virginia, August 21, 2017

    Commentary

    Trump's New Afghanistan Strategy: Governing from the Center?

    The president has embraced a national security establishment strategy for Afghanistan with a veneer of Trumpian flourishes that do not alter its essence. The result is likely to disappoint some of his supporters and to be criticized by his opponents, but it will also secure a measure of bipartisan support.

    Aug 22, 2017

  • U.S. Marines unload their weapons as they get back to their base from a training exercise with Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers in Helmand province, Afghanistan July 5, 2017

    Media Advisory

    RAND Expert Available to Address U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan

    Seth Jones, Director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation, is available for interviews to discuss potential changes to the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.

    Aug 21, 2017

  • Workers place concrete barriers to prevent possible attacks on the walk Muelle Uno in Malaga, Spain, on August 18, 2017, a day after a van crashed into pedestrians at Las Ramblas

    Commentary

    When the Car Is a Terror Weapon, Can We Prepare for Attacks?

    Soft targets, so-called because they are more vulnerable to terrorism due to lower levels of security, are notoriously difficult to protect, and the latest shift to using vehicles to conduct ramming attacks only compounds the problem for authorities.

    Aug 18, 2017

  • Military parade in Pyongyang, October 2015

    Essay

    Understanding North Korea

    How should the U.S. respond to North Korea's provocative behavior? Even the best military options could be cataclysmically bad, but there are nonmilitary options to convince Kim Jong Un that the costs of his provocations outweigh any benefits.

    Aug 18, 2017

  • An Iraqi military HMMWV drives past an Islamic State sign in eastern Mosul after they captured it from IS

    Commentary

    The Islamic State May Be Failing, but Its Strategic Communications Legacy Is Here to Stay

    The Islamic State's caliphate is collapsing but its legacy will live on virtually because of its information operations. The scale of the menace presented by the group today pales in comparison to other global challenges, yet it manages to dominate and terrorize the public mind.

    Aug 17, 2017

  • Announcement

    Announcement

    Noted Attorney and Former Senior Government Official Joins Pardee RAND to Help Direct School's Strategic Direction

    Daniel Grunfeld, a Los Angeles attorney with three decades of legal, community-building and policymaking experience, has joined RAND as the Executive Vice Dean for Strategy and Partnerships of the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

    Aug 17, 2017

  • A teacher discussing a mathematics problem with her student

    Commentary

    What Emerging Research Says About the Promise of Personalized Learning

    Personalized learning holds promise as an innovation that can lead to improved educational outcomes for students. But implementers should have modest expectations for the magnitude of the benefits, and patience for the full benefits to emerge.

    Aug 16, 2017

  • Canada, U.S., and Mexico flags

    Media Advisory

    RAND Expert Available to Discuss NAFTA Negotiations

    Howard Shatz, a senior economist at the RAND Corporation who specializes in international economics, trade and labor markets, and U.S. international economic strategy, is available for interviews to talk about the North American Free Trade Agreement.

    Aug 16, 2017

  • A woman affected by a gas attack breathes through an oxygen mask inside a field hospital in Kfar Zeita village, Hama, Syria, April 12, 2014

    Commentary

    Assad's Attacks Should Not Be Repeated, Forgotten, or Excused

    Despite signing the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty in October 2013, Assad has continued chemical attacks on the Syrian opposition. To counter Assad and others who might turn to the use of chemical weapons, the U.S. could collaborate with other major powers to bolster the international ban on them.

    Aug 15, 2017

  • Residential apartments next to the dried-up Ratanpura lake on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India May 9, 2016

    Commentary

    Another Casualty of Climate Change: Peace

    The connection between human conflict and climate change is no mere coincidence. Drought, temperature and tensions rise in tandem, with the implicit threat of violent conflict not far behind.

    Aug 15, 2017

  • Three woman talking in an office

    Commentary

    Why the IPS Success Story Needs to Be Unpicked

    The Individual Placement and Support model, which helps people with severe mental illness gain employment, has been a major statistical success. Why does it work and how it might be applied to other vulnerable populations?

    Aug 15, 2017

  • Media Advisory

    Media Advisory

    Conference Call on Tensions Between North Korea and the U.S.

    The RAND Corporation will hold a media conference call on Wednesday, Aug. 16 to discuss the latest developments and mounting tensions between North Korea and the United States and answer questions from the news media.

    Aug 15, 2017

  • People walk in front of a monitor showing news of North Korea's fresh threat in Tokyo, Japan, August 10, 2017

    Commentary

    How Did North Korea Get Its Nuclear Capabilities So Far So Fast?

    The recent North Korean missile tests and other provocations have sent shock waves through the global national security community and heightened tensions throughout the region. How has North Korea increased its missile capabilities so dramatically in such a short period of time?

    Aug 14, 2017

  • U.S. troops assess the damage to an armored vehicle of the NATO-led military coalition after a suicide attack in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, August 2, 2017

    Commentary

    Privatizing the Military Unlikely to Be a Viable Solution in Afghanistan

    Operational contractors are now an entrenched part of the Department of Defense’s total force and are here to stay. But replacing U.S. military personnel with contractors is not likely to be a militarily effective solution for the Afghanistan problem.

    Aug 14, 2017

  • Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) are driven during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 15, 2017

    Commentary

    The North Korea Standoff: Have We Been Here Before?

    How the United States responded to China's nuclear weapons program last century can provide lessons for today's debate about North Korea. For instance, the conclusion that the only option is deterrence is still sound.

    Aug 14, 2017

  • Chinese structures in Subi Reef, a disputed part of the South China Sea, April 21, 2017

    Commentary

    Dealing with Global Hot Spots in Times of Domestic Upheaval

    The United States faces growing dangers of war in three parts of the globe: North Korea, Syria, and the South China Sea. How will it manage any—let alone all—of them, especially with political turmoil at the highest levels at home?

    Aug 14, 2017

  • News Release

    News Release

    American Workplace Is Physically and Emotionally Taxing; Most Workers Receive Support from Boss and Friends at Work

    The American workplace is taxing, with workers facing unstable work schedules, unpleasant and hazardous working conditions, and an often hostile social environment. But American workers have a certain degree of autonomy on the job, feel confident about their skill set, and receive social support while on the job.

    Aug 14, 2017

    Upcoming Events

  • A business man looking at gears and a drawing of work and innovation

    The State of the American Worker

    Sep 12, 2017

    U.S. employers have steadily added jobs since 2010, but wage growth has remained sluggish. Technological change and globalization have been double-edged swords for different workers. A panel of RAND experts will discuss emerging trends in the labor market and policy options to address inequality and jobs of the future. [Santa Monica, CA]

  • Coin jars labelled 'now' and 'future'

    RAND Behavioral Finance Forum 2017

    Oct 24, 2017

    The RAND Behavioral Finance Forum brings together academic, financial, and government leaders to share cutting-edge behavioral research in financial decisionmaking. The 2017 annual conference is on Tuesday, October 24, 2017, at The Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C.

    • Past Events

  • Jeffrey Wasserman at the 2015 RAND Public Policy Workshop

    RAND Public Policy Workshop

    Aug 9, 2017

    In this two-day public policy analysis workshop led by RAND's Jeffrey Wasserman, participants learn about policy analysis tools and techniques—and gain an understanding of how they can be used to improve the quality of public policy decisionmaking. [Washington, DC]