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RAND's international affairs research comprises a range of cross-cutting issues, including global economies and trade, space and maritime security, diplomacy, global health and education, nation building, and regional security and stability. RAND also analyzes the policies and effectiveness of international organizations such as the UN, NATO, European Union, and ASEAN.

Report

Potential Benefits of Economic Integration in the Levant

Sep 16, 2019

A comprehensive free trade agreement among six of the core Levant nations—Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey—could increase their average gross domestic product by 3 to 7 percent. It could also reduce regional unemployment rates by 8 to 18 percent.
Commentary

Time to Return to the Basics of Statecraft

Sep 4, 2019

After two decades of setbacks abroad, it's time to ask whether the decline in American influence is irreversible. Ultimately, neither China nor Russia is responsible for these difficulties. Washington's failures have been self-inflicted, the result of flawed policy rather than any decisive shift in the global balance of power.

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Commentary

Beyond Hawks and Doves: A Better Way to Debate U.S.–China Policy

The best long-term outcome for U.S.–China relations may be one in which inexorably intensifying competition coexists with occasionally fruitful cooperation. It is not the most inspiring result, to be sure, but it is preferable to unconstrained antagonism.

Sep 20, 2019
Commentary

South Korea–Japan Tensions Complicate U.S. Efforts to Leverage Allies in Competition with China

The rapid deterioration of ties between South Korea and Japan not only undercuts America's Indo-Pacific strategy, it also increases the risks to U.S. allies and partners in the region. Just how consequential is the growing South Korea–Japan tension for U.S. strategy and what is Washington doing to address the issue?

Sep 17, 2019
Commentary

Israel’s War with Iran May Be Going Too Far

Israel has a right to defend itself from Iranian threats to its country. American leaders should consider balancing support for Israel's efforts to counter Iran with firm redlines about activities negatively impacting American interests.

Sep 16, 2019
Commentary

African Dictators Have Been Losing Power—Some to Democratic Governments. Militaries Can Tip the Scales Toward Democracy

Africa's security forces most often make headlines when they commit atrocities, crack down on protesters, or seize power in coups. But Africa's troops can also contribute to democracy and peace when they lay down their arms or refuse orders to turn their guns against the people.

Sep 16, 2019
Tool

Tool

The Levant Economic Integration Calculator

This online tool allows policymakers and the public to examine how a comprehensive free trade agreement among the countries of the Levant could create significant new economic opportunities, substantially reducing regional unemployment.

Sep 16, 2019
Commentary

A Tale of Two Cities China Ignores at Its Peril

Beijing may believe that, eventually, Taiwanese politics will turn in its favor. But it should consider experiences from the other two territories currently living under the formula—Hong Kong and Macau—to better understand why “one country, two systems” will never work in Taiwan, regardless of politics.

Sep 12, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Recent Trends in Child and Family Policy in the EU: European Platform for Investing in Children: Annual Thematic Report

An annual report for the European Platform for Investing in Children, outlining new policy developments in the area of child and family policy in EU Member States and reporting on the progress of policies and activities initiated in earlier years.

Sep 4, 2019
Commentary

Maintaining the U.S. Edge in the Freely Associated States

In the geo-strategically vital region of the Freely Associated States (FAS), China is increasingly competing with the United States for influence. The United States and its allies and partners will need to engage not only with economic aid, but also with other issues including health, economic development, natural disasters, climate change and illegal fishing to sustain a strong partnership with the FAS.

Sep 3, 2019
Report

The Thickening Web of Asian Security Cooperation

Key U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific have been strengthening their defense ties with regional actors over the past two decades. To what extent is this a response to the perceived threat of a rising, assertive China? And how will these new commitments affect the United States?

Aug 29, 2019
Report

How Willing Are NATO Members to Defend Their Baltic Allies?

What factors would make NATO allies more or less likely to respond to a Russian attack? And what can be done to reduce their vulnerability to Russian influence and to increase alliance cohesion?

Aug 29, 2019
Commentary

The Contours of China's Evolving Counterterrorism Strategy

In discussing terrorism, China often uses language that seems lifted directly out of U.S.-style war on terror rhetoric. But no one should be fooled. Beijing's sole strategy for counterterrorism is widespread surveillance and repression, completely out of proportion to the level of threat it faces. It is using the threat of terrorism to mute international criticism of these practices and to export them abroad.

Aug 27, 2019
Report

What Will Drive the Next Generation of Salafi-Jihadis?

Continued economic stagnation and a high youth unemployment rate, exacerbated by the Muslim youth bulge, could lead to failed expectations and spur radicalization among disenchanted Gen Z Muslims. And this cohort's familiarity with the internet could foreshadow an adaptive, tech-savvy terrorist threat.

Aug 22, 2019
Commentary

Trump's Tariffs Against China Aren't Working. And There's No Quick Resolution in Sight

Washington's go-it-alone approach to its trade disputes with China is imposing a high and growing cost on the U.S. economy. It could even threaten global prosperity. What's more, there's no quick resolution in sight.

Aug 20, 2019
Testimony

Testimony

Implications of U.S.-China Collaborations on Global Health Issues: Addendum

Document submitted on August 19, 2019, as an addendum to testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on July 31, 2019.

Aug 20, 2019
Commentary

Why Vanguard Bank and Why Now? Explaining Chinese Behavior in the South China Sea

What can Vietnam do now to make Chinese assertiveness against it less likely going forward? Although deepening the U.S.-Vietnam defense partnership in the short-term may be contributing to trouble with China, closer cooperation in the long-run could serve to deter China. Enhancing cooperation with Vietnam's other defense partners—namely Australia, Japan, and India—could help to deter Beijing as well.

Aug 19, 2019
Commentary

Japan's Hormuz Dilemma

Japan is a staunch U.S. ally in the Indo-Pacific. But any decision to support a coalition against Iran in the Middle East is likely to put Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a tough position.

Aug 16, 2019
Journal Article

Leave Policies and Practice for Non-Traditional Families

This policy memo provides an overview of the extent to which non-traditional families are taken into account by Member States in developing family leave policies.

Aug 16, 2019
Commentary

Searching for Signs of Doi Moi in North Korea

President Trump's second summit with Kim Jong Un prompted voluminous commentary about whether Pyongyang might adopt the “Vietnam model” of economic reform and opening up, known as doi moi. Some version of doi moi is not impossible in North Korea, but it will likely be more difficult than it was in Vietnam and made all the more so by Kim's reluctance to risk losing absolute control.

Aug 12, 2019

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RAND Topic:
International Affairs

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