Geographic Areas

  • Instructors and soldiers from Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Niger during U.S.-sponsored exercises at the international counterterrorism academy in Jacqueville, Ivory Coast, March 14, 2023, photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters

    Commentary

    The Case for a Governance-First U.S. Security Policy in the Sahel

    Both terrorism and coups are on the rise in the Sahel. To reverse this troubling trend, the United States could ramp up support aimed at improving security governance, professionalizing militaries, and strongly sanctioning all forms of military takeovers in the region. This would require a real shift from the current U.S. security approach in the region.

    Jun 8, 2023

  • Bolivian soldiers stand next to military vehicles received by Bolivian Armed Forces from the Chinese government in La Paz, Bolivia, July 29, 2016, photo by Bolivian Information Agency/Handout via Reuters

    Commentary

    Countries Buy Defective Chinese Military Equipment. Why?

    China's defense industry has exported malfunctioning and defective military equipment in recent years—leaving countries short of what's needed for their security while also draining military budgets. So why do countries continue to order military equipment from China?

    Jun 8, 2023

  • Sitka, Alaska from the water, with mountains in the background, photo by AlexSava/Getty Images

    Report

    Residential Landslide Insurance in Sitka, Alaska: Market Conditions and Options for Improving Availability

    This Perspective includes a characterization of the market for landslide insurance in Southeast Alaska and a description of four approaches that stakeholders might consider to make landslide coverage more available.

    Jun 7, 2023

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Invisible Blockades and Strategic Coercion

    The use of naval mines goes back more than two centuries, but the use of these weapons by both Russia and Ukraine has renewed discussion about the value of this technology for modern warfare.

    Jun 7, 2023

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Not-So-Great Powers: U.S.-China Rivalry in the Neomedieval Age

    Counterintuitive as might sound, U.S. decisionmakers should avoid strategies and methods drawn from industrial-age great power competition.

    Jun 7, 2023

  • An F-16 Fighting Falcon flies during a mission at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, February 14, 2019, photo by Staff Sgt. John Raven/U.S. Air Force

    Commentary

    What Is the Long-Term Strategy for Ukraine's Air Force?

    It is encouraging that Ukraine might receive F-16s to improve its combat capabilities. Western policymakers might begin thinking now about what the Ukrainian Air Force may require in the future, especially if the Russian threat remains acute.

    Jun 6, 2023

  • U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia, November 14, 2022, photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

    Commentary

    U.S.-China Rivalry in an Era of Weakening States

    With their weakened state capacity, disengaged publics, and imbalanced economies, the United States and China break the pattern seen in other rivalries between great powers. New theories and ideas will be required to cope with problems largely unknown to the great-power rivals of the recent past.

    Jun 6, 2023

  • Damaged buildings are pictured during the fighting with Islamic State's fighters in the old city of Raqqa, Syria, August 19, 2017, photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters

    Report

    U.S.-China Rivalry in a Neomedieval World

    The neomedieval era, which began around 2000, is characterized by weakening states, fragmenting societies, imbalanced economies, and informalized warfare. What do these conditions mean for competition—and potential conflict—between the United States and China?

    Jun 6, 2023

  • A woman hugs her boyfriend as they say good-bye prior to his deployment, at the train station in Lviv, Ukraine, March 9, 2022, photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

    Journal Article

    An Unwinnable War: Washington Needs an Endgame in Ukraine

    While the Western response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine was clear from the start, the objective has been nebulous. After over a year of fighting, the likely direction of this war is coming into focus.

    Jun 6, 2023

  • A member of Team Red, White and Blue runs through a cooling shower of water at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., October 30, 2016, photo. by Lance Cpl. Timothy Smithers/U.S. Marines

    Commentary

    Amid an Epidemic of Loneliness, Nonprofits Are Helping Keep Veterans Connected

    Many nonprofit organizations in the United States seek to support veterans and foster social connection. The connections and sense of community these programs are building can help to combat the loneliness epidemic that is affecting veterans and non-veterans alike.

    Jun 5, 2023

  • U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signs the Defense Cooperation Agreement with Papua New Guinea Defense Minister Win Daki at the APEC House in Papua New Guinea, May 22, 2023, photo by Chuck Kennedy/U.S. State Department

    Commentary

    America Is Winning Against China in Oceania

    The United States retains enormous advantages in Oceania and should not be alarmed by China's security activities in the region. Washington should nevertheless keep a close eye on Beijing's moves, particularly against small and weak nations that will struggle to counter Chinese coercive activities on their own.

    Jun 4, 2023

  • RAND Weekly Recap

    Blog

    Arming Teachers, F-16s in Ukraine, Commercial Spaceflight: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on how teachers feel about arming teachers, what F-16s will (and won't) do for Ukraine, the need to regulate commercial spaceflight, and more.

    Jun 2, 2023

  • Soldiers from Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, pause at the end of a patrol near Wynot, Iraq, October 6, 2005, photo by U.S. Army

    Commentary

    An Autistic Soldier Wants You to Read This

    Despite the recruitment challenges it is currently facing, the Army continues to make personnel decisions based on last century's understanding of neurodivergent diagnoses. The loosening of stigma associated with these diagnoses could improve recruitment, and the Army might reap the benefits of neurodiversity.

    Jun 1, 2023

  • Russian conscripts take part in a ceremony marking their departure for garrisons, at the Trinity Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, Russia, May 23, 2023, photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters

    Commentary

    The Russian Military's Looming Personnel Crises of Retention and Veteran Mental Heath

    Russia's looming troop-retention and veteran-treatment problems are already visible on the horizon, even though they have been delayed by policy. By invading Ukraine, Russia has created a wave of severe trauma that will soon crash over its own country.

    Jun 1, 2023

  • An elementary school teacher helping a student on a tablet, photo by LumiNola/Getty Images

    Report

    Which Working Conditions Could Restore Teacher Well-Being?

    Teachers' self-reported well-being and access to a variety of working conditions varied across five states. Relational factors—positive relationships with other teachers and administrators—were more strongly linked to well-being than organizational factors. And a schoolwide focus on social and emotional learning was linked to positive well-being.

    Jun 1, 2023

  • A digital brain made up of lines, triangles, binary digits and dots, photo by Natalia Darmoroz/iStock/Getty Images Plus

    Report

    Chinese Next-Generation Psychological Warfare

    China is interested in both advanced computing and brain science to expand and improve its psychological warfare capabilities. How might this affect U.S.-China dynamics in peacetime competition, crisis, and conflict?

    Jun 1, 2023

  • Report

    Report

    Great-Power Competition and Conflict in the Middle East

    This report explores the potential for competition among the United States, China, and Russia in the Middle East; where and why competition might turn into conflict; what form that conflict might take; and the implications for the United States.

    Jun 1, 2023

  • Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso addresses the nation next to members of government, after he dissolved the National Assembly by decree, in Quito, Ecuador May 17, 2023, photo by Bolivar Parra/Ecuador Presidency/Handout via Reuters

    Commentary

    Is Ecuador in the Middle of a Self-Coup?

    On May 17, the president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, dissolved the country's legislature in the midst of impeachment proceedings against him. Did Ecuador just have a self-coup? The answer matters greatly for the country's democratic trajectory and for the international community's response.

    May 31, 2023

  • Three U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons fly over the Pacific Ocean, February 10, 2022, photo by Tech. Sgt. Matthew Lotz/U.S. Air Force

    Commentary

    What F-16s Will (and Won't) Do for Ukraine

    After months of publicly lobbying to acquire U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, it appears that Ukraine may receive them later this year. However, there remains a long road ahead before the F-16s would see service in Ukraine—and it is an open question how much they would affect the outcome of the war.

    May 31, 2023

  • Mother holding her baby and kissing the top of his head, photo by Goodboy Picture Company/Getty Images

    Report

    Birth-Centered Outcomes Research Engagement (B-CORE) in Medi-Cal: Community-Generated Recommendations to Decrease Maternal Mortality and Severe Maternal Morbidity

    The B-CORE project, described in this report, applied the deliberative democracy method to engage affected community members in problem-solving focused on maternal health inequities in California.

    May 31, 2023