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Korean Peninsula

Commentary

China's Reluctance on Sanctions Enforcement in North Korea

It's fair to question whether Beijing intends to fully enforce sanctions against the Kim Jong Un regime because such actions tend to undermine China's approach in North Korea. Beijing likely seeks to prevent the collapse of the North Korean regime to ensure that neither a spillover of refugees nor a reunified pro-U.S. Korea emerges on its doorstep.

Jan 4, 2018
Dissertation

Labor Market Outcomes of Youth and Women in Newly Industrialized and Developing Countries

This dissertation examines the effects of exogenous shocks and labor market policies on employment, wages, and human capital development of youth and women.

Dec 4, 2017
Testimony

Recommendations for a Future National Defense Strategy

War games and analysis suggest that U.S. forces could lose the next war they are called upon to fight. The nation must invest in new field systems and military capabilities to create a robust defensive posture vis-à-vis China, Russia, and other adversaries.

Nov 30, 2017
Multimedia

Recommendations for a Future National Defense Strategy

Drawing from his expertise and war-game experience, David Ochmanek provides recommendations to inform a future national defense strategy. He explains that while U.S. forces are currently misaligned with challenges from the country's greatest adversaries, including China and Russia, gaps can be overcome with investments in existing technology to protect our forward bases; reach into contested areas; and identify, track, and engage enemy forces.

Nov 29, 2017
Commentary

Is Iron Dome a Poisoned Chalice? Strategic Risks from Tactical Success

While Iron Dome's past success in defending Israel makes it a tempting solution to future challenges, it does have shortcomings. This becomes even more serious when considering using the system in Korea, where the threat posed is substantially greater, and the targeted terrain substantially harder to defend.

Nov 29, 2017
Commentary

Recovering from a Nuclear Attack on a U.S. City

Responding after a nuclear attack will require having planned and prepared for problems that are very different than those encountered after hurricanes and earthquakes. U.S. cities are inadequately prepared to handle a disaster of this magnitude.

Nov 7, 2017
Q&A

General Robert Brown on the U.S. Army's Role in Asia

Gen. Robert B. Brown, Commanding General of U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC), offers his perspective of key defense and security issues facing USARPAC in the Indo-Pacific region today. He discusses what the Army's role would be in any potential application of U.S. military power, as well as its peacetime role in strengthening U.S. alliances.

Oct 25, 2017
Report

Armies Have a Role to Play in Nation Building

Events in Iraq and Mali have raised questions about the value of Security Force Assistance and U.S. capacity to strengthen client states' militaries in the face of insurgencies or other threats. History shows that SFA programs could be improved if they focused more on ideology and how an army complements a host country's larger nation-building efforts.

Oct 24, 2017
Commentary

Why Japan Needs Long-Range Strike Capabilities

Japan's pacifist constitution allows it to exercise force only when its survival is threatened and there are no other means to repel the attack. But North Korea's advancing military capabilities have drastically changed the threat environment. Japan no longer has the luxury to be complacent about its security threats.

Oct 23, 2017
Commentary

The Rorschach Test of New Nuclear Powers: Analogies for North Korean Command and Control

Is Pyongyang more like modern Islamabad or Soviet Moscow? The answer must draw on the expertise of scholars of civil-military relations as well as nuclear strategy. Even then analogy is only a starting point—North Korea may be more or less like previous cases, but will certainly be unique.

Oct 6, 2017
Commentary

On North Korea, Past Foreign Policy Fiascoes Show U.S. What Not to Do

Foreign policy disasters are often the sum of two basic errors: embracing exaggerated claims about the need to act, and inventing a conceptual magic wand to wish away potential consequences. Both are apparent in U.S. policy toward North Korea's nuclear aspirations.

Oct 5, 2017
Commentary

Beyond Strategic Patience with North Korea: What Comes Next?

North Korea says that nuclear weapons are essential to regime survival. The United States should figure out how to persuade the North Korean regime that it is less likely to survive by posing a nuclear threat than by cooperating with the international community.

Sep 8, 2017
Periodical

RAND Review: September-October 2017

This issue highlights recent RAND research on North Korea; RAND's future workspace pilot project; and insights on the post--Arab Spring experience in the Middle East.

Aug 24, 2017
Commentary

How to Keep Iran from Becoming the Next North Korea

The United States 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 Iran nuclear deal.

Aug 22, 2017
Essay

Understanding North Korea

How should the United States 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
Multimedia

Tensions Between North Korea and the U.S.

RAND experts Bruce Bennett, Andrew Scobell, and J.D. Williams host a conference call with news media discussing the rising tensions between North Korea and the United States. Senior Media Relations Officer Khorshied Samad moderates the call.

Aug 16, 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
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
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
Commentary

Contain, Deter, Transform: A Winning Strategy on North Korea

North Korea's missile tests and reported progress in nuclear warhead design have produced a volatile new urgency in U.S. policy. Contain, deter, and transform isn't a radical solution, but it's one that has worked before. This approach could preserve U.S. interests while avoiding war.

Aug 9, 2017

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