Civil-Military Relations

RAND research on civil-military relations includes studies of how a military employs civilian contractors, how military bases interact with their neighbors, and how a nation's military affects its politics—and vice versa.

  • U.S. Navy LTJG Mike Gibson instructs the Ethiopian National Defense Force engineers on daily operations for engineering teams in Fiche, Ethiopia, December 19, 2012

    Report

    Defense Institution Building in Africa

    Effective defense institution building (DIB) requires close coordination at every level. Improved coordination, planning, and implementation should enable DIB to advance U.S. defense objectives in Africa more effectively.

    Jan 4, 2016

  • Report

    Report

    Toppling the Taliban: Air-Ground Operations in Afghanistan, October 2001–June 2002

    This report describes the preparations for Operation Enduring Freedom, Army operations and support activities, coalition issues, and civil-military operations in Afghanistan from October 2001 through June 2002.

    Jan 4, 2016

  • 2nd Lt. Mary Kauffman, Ohio Army National Guard, crawls through mud during the Warrior Dash Aug. 11, 2013, in North Lawrence, Ohio

    Report

    Demystifying the Citizen Soldier

    This report analyzes the National Guard's centrality to American national security, the idea that it prevents the United States from fighting controversial foreign wars, and its claim to embody the concept of the citizen soldier.

    Dec 3, 2015

  • Report

    Report

    Improving DoD Support to FEMA's All-Hazards Plans

    Reviews and analyzes how the U.S. Department of Defense and the Federal Emergency Management Agency work together to plan and execute disaster response activities, and recommends areas for improvement.

    Nov 30, 2015

  • U.S. and Spanish Marines signal acknowledgement

    Report

    A Building Partner Capacity Assessment Framework: Tracking Inputs, Outputs, Outcomes, Disrupters, and Workarounds

    This report presents a framework intended to help with planning for building partner capacity events, monitoring progress while the effort is in progress, and assessing results.

    Aug 21, 2015

  • Nepalese soldiers unload aid and relief supplies from a UH-1Y Venom in the Kavrepalanchowk District, May 11, 2015

    Report

    What Works Best When Building Partner Capacity in Challenging Contexts

    When forced to build partner capacity in challenging contexts, what can the United States do to maximize the prospects for success?

    Aug 21, 2015

  • U.S. Army Forces Command hosts academic dialogue with strategic studies Ph.D. candidates

    Commentary

    Political Scientists and the Military

    For civilian academics interested in bridging the political science–military gap, five recommendations to acquire basic information about the military could encourage improved interaction, better policy-relevant scholarship, and an enhanced policy process.

    Aug 10, 2015

  • A boy waves his U.S. flag as the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron Thunderbirds fly in the diamond formation during an Aviation Nation airshow at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Nov. 10, 2012

    Report

    American Public Opinion of Airpower Over the Past Century

    Americans today do not view airpower or the Air Force with the same fascination and enthusiasm that they did during the “golden age” of aviation, but shortcomings in Air Force narratives are not to blame. Airpower's enormous social currency during the first half of the 20th century was due to real-world events and technological advances, not narratives.

    Jul 17, 2015

  • Periodical

    Periodical

    RAND Review: July-August 2015

    This issue of RAND Review reports on the economic costs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, healthy menu options for food trucks, ways to bridge the civilian-military gap, the depiction of terrorism on television, and more.

    Jul 2, 2015

  • Report

    Report

    Assessing and Evaluating Department of Defense Efforts to Inform, Influence, and Persuade: An Annotated Reading List

    To help broaden the expertise of U.S. Department of Defense assessment personnel and stakeholders, RAND produced a reading list for self-study in best assessment practices across a range of sectors.

    Apr 17, 2015

  • A service member and interpreter talk with residents about malaria prevention in Ethiopia

    Report

    DoD Efforts to Inform, Influence, and Persuade

    The U.S. Department of Defense spends more than $250 million per year on efforts to inform, influence, and persuade. How effective (and cost-effective) are they? How well do they support military objectives? How could they be improved?

    Apr 17, 2015

  • A service member talks with a local official during outreach activities in the Philippines

    Report

    Evaluating DoD Efforts to Inform, Influence, and Persuade

    The U.S. Department of Defense has struggled to assess the progress and effectiveness of its efforts to inform, influence, and persuade audiences in support of key national security objectives. Examples of strong assessment practices across sectors—including defense, marketing, public relations, and academia—can help address these challenges.

    Apr 17, 2015

  • Congolese M23 rebels patrol near Rushuru, in DRC August 2013 as a deadline set by UN peacekeepers for rebels to lay down their weapons passes

    Report

    Addressing Risks in Security Sector Assistance to Africa

    Often those countries most in need of security sector assistance are least able to make good use of it. How can the United States better anticipate and mitigate the risks of assistance to Africa's fragile states?

    Apr 15, 2015

  • Capt. Chuck Marks, commanding officer of Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, listens to Martin Gallivan, associate professor of anthropology at the College of William and Mary, talk about the artifacts his team of students uncovered during the excavation of a Powhatan Indian village, a field study being conducted under a cooperative agreement between the Navy and the college

    Commentary

    A Funny Thing Happened When These Military Officers and Academics Got Together

    If senior officers and academics find themselves divided, is there a way to build respect and trust earlier in their careers, when less is at stake? A tabletop exercise suggested that the best way to bridge the civilian-military divide is not via large conferences or formal papers. Instead, it can be done by building trust, one person at a time, over time.

    Apr 6, 2015

  • French, British, and EU flags

    Report

    Crisis and conflict prevention strategies: An international comparison

    This report is a translated excerpt from a 2012 report, focusing on conflict prevention approaches in four national cases: France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany.

    Feb 25, 2015

  • Report

    Report

    Improving the Timeliness of Equal Employment Opportunity Complaint Processing in Department of Defense

    The Department of Defense should process formal discrimination complaints within 180 days of filing. However, many of these complaints are not processed within this time frame. This report provides information to help address this lag.

    Feb 6, 2015

  • Members of Kurdish Peshmerga force stand guard at Sulaiman Pek front line, August 31, 2014. Iraqi security forces backed by Shi'ite militias on Sunday broke the two-month siege of Amerli by Islamic State militants.

    Commentary

    A Broad Approach to Countering the Islamic State

    Recent analysis about how to defeat the Islamic State tends to be based on no more than intuition, a general sense of history, or a small number of cases of questionable comparability. A study of 71 historical cases of counterinsurgencies should help provide empirical evidence to this important debate.

    Sep 2, 2014

  • Research Brief

    Research Brief

    Best Practices for Assessing Locally Focused Stability Operations

    Locally focused stability operations (LFSO) to build security, development, and governance are difficult to assess because of the complexity of operational environments. This brief outlines creation of an assessment plan for a notional LFSO scenario.

    Aug 21, 2014

  • Report

    Report

    Assessing Locally Focused Stability Operations

    This report describes how to best measure and assess the progress and outcomes of locally focused stability operations -- the missions, tasks, and activities that create stability by building security, governance, and development in a community.

    Aug 21, 2014

  • Tool

    Tool

    Vulnerability Assessment Method Pocket Guide: A Tool for Center of Gravity Analysis

    This pocket guide describes a process for identifying adversary, friendly, and other key stakeholder centers of gravity to support the development of plans that will exploit adversary vulnerabilities while protecting friendly ones.

    Aug 14, 2014

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