North America

  • RAND Weekly Recap

    Blog

    Homelessness in L.A., Russia's Military Woes, Educator Morale: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on breaking the cycle of incarceration and homelessness, Russia’s ongoing military struggles, NATO expansion, and more.

    Aug 19, 2022

  • Congressman and Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking Co-Chair David Trone speaks on a RAND panel discussing the commission's findings, July 2022

    Multimedia

    What Policy Changes Could Help Save Lives from Illicit Synthetic Opioids Overdose?

    In this recording of a July 2022 virtual event, experts discuss findings from the final report by the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking, and recommendations to reduce the number of lives lost to illicit synthetic opioids.

    Aug 18, 2022

  • News Release

    News Release

    L.A. Program to Divert Homeless from Jail into Supportive Housing Decreases Use of County Services

    A program that diverts some people with a history of homelessness from Los Angeles County jails into permanent supportive housing can significantly lower taxpayer spending on services such as hospital care and shelter use.

    Aug 16, 2022

  • A Board of Elections employee cleans a voting machine during early voting at the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, October 29, 2020, photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters

    Report

    Securing U.S. Elections

    Election systems across U.S. states and jurisdictions are diverse in terms of governance and technology. How can state and local officials effectively assess and prioritize cybersecurity risk in the systems they oversee?

    Aug 16, 2022

  • U.S. President Joe Biden, alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, Swedish Ambassador to the U.S. Karin Olofsdotter and Finnish Ambassador to the U.S. Mikko Hautala, signs documents endorsing Finland's and Sweden's accession to NATO, at the White House, in Washington, D.C., August 9, 2022, photo by Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

    Commentary

    Finnish and Swedish NATO Membership: Toward a Larger, Stronger, Smarter Alliance

    Finland and Sweden are poised to become full NATO members in the near future. The Nordic pair's entry into NATO means that alliance leaders and planners confront new challenges, and just as many opportunities.

    Aug 12, 2022

  • RAND Weekly Recap

    Blog

    Politicized Topics in School, the War in Ukraine, Post-Quantum Cryptography: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on the intrusion of politicized topics in America's schools, where the war in Ukraine may be headed, post-quantum cryptography, and more.

    Aug 12, 2022

  • Health care workers prepare to receive walk-up patients at a coronavirus testing center at UMC Hospital in Washington, April 6, 2020, photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

    Commentary

    Learning, Relearning, and Not Learning the Lessons of COVID-19

    Recent announcements have demonstrated how little has been learned from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the potential need for a national reckoning to assess shortfalls and develop recommendations for preparing for and responding to future pandemics and other biological risks. The United States could create a national commission to develop a way forward.

    Aug 12, 2022

  • A diverse group of medical staff sitting at a table, listening to a Black doctor speaking, photo by FatCamera/Getty Images

    Commentary

    In Search of an Equity Lens: A Physician's Journey

    Patient health outcomes, communication with providers, and overall patient satisfaction improve when patients and providers share a similar background. Further, diverse work environments may positively impact health care provider job satisfaction. Increasing diversity in health care work settings is a first important step that could help to increase equity and inclusion in these environments.

    Aug 11, 2022

  • Four educators in a school office, one holding her head and looking stressed, the other listening to her, photo by DGLimages/Getty Images

    Commentary

    Will Teachers Quit? What Surveys Can and Can't Tell Us

    There is no single source for reliable current data about teacher and principal turnover or job openings, so it's understandable that journalists rely on survey data to monitor the health of the teacher and principal workforce. But media coverage that focuses only on the connection, or lack thereof, between teachers' intentions to leave and actual turnover stands the risk of minimizing the clearly stated dissatisfaction that educators are expressing.

    Aug 11, 2022

  • Stressed-looking male teacher leaning against a desk with one hand on his forehead, photo by SolStock/Getty Images

    Commentary

    Educators' Poor Morale Matters, Even If They Don't Quit. Here's Why

    State and district education leaders can take steps now to reduce teacher and principal stress this fall in two ways: Recognize that job-related stress is systemic and that educators closer to the classroom may experience more of it, and talk with teachers and principals about the sources of stress in their job, and what could alleviate them.

    Aug 11, 2022

  • A young woman waiting for a nurse to get a syringe ready for an injection, photo by Lacheev/Getty Images

    Report

    Does Racism Affect Patient Safety?

    Rates and types of patient safety events vary across patients from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, with minoritized patients more likely to experience safety issues. The factors that lead to these disparities are complex and intertwined, but there is growing sentiment that racism may play a role.

    Aug 8, 2022

  • A rescuer carries a land mine on the premises of a brick plant Trostianets, Sumy Region, northeastern Ukraine, June 17, 2022, photo by Pavlo_Bagmut/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect

    Commentary

    Is the Virtue in the Weapon or the Cause?

    The Biden administration's recent announcement of its intention to adhere to the provisions of the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel landmines has real consequences. This decision is the latest in the long controversy over the use of anti-personnel landmines and, more broadly, what means are moral in war.

    Aug 5, 2022

  • RAND Weekly Recap

    Blog

    Our New CEO, Algorithmic Bias, Equity in the Workplace: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on what RAND’s new president and CEO envisions for the future, addressing bias in health care algorithms, creating equitable change in the workplace, and more.

    Aug 5, 2022

  • The International Space Station, November 25, 2009, photo by NASA

    Commentary

    Russia's Withdrawal from the ISS: Another Sign of Its Space Decline?

    Russia's threatened exit from the International Space Station could simply be more bluster from Moscow at a time of heightened tension between Russia and the West over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But it also appears to be another signal that Russia's profile in space is in decline, a trend that is likely to continue and that the United States could be preparing for now.

    Aug 4, 2022

  • Educating Newcomers

    Report

    Educating Newcomers: A Research-Practice Conversation

    RAND researchers highlight findings from a recent study that estimates the number of children and youth from Central America and Mexico crossing the Southwest border of the United States from 2017 to 2019, as well as findings on policies and practice from two case study school districts in Louisiana and California.

    Aug 4, 2022

  • A Taliban fighter stands guard near the site where Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. strike over the weekend, in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 2, 2022, photo by Stringer/Reuters

    Commentary

    After the al-Zawahiri Strike, the U.S. May Lack Capabilities in Afghanistan

    The U.S. drone strike that killed al Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan took out one of the last remaining key figures behind the 9/11 terror attacks. But it also highlighted how little the United States got out of its 2020 bargain with the Taliban, and raised questions about the U.S. ability to adequately monitor the developing threat from this quarter going forward.

    Aug 3, 2022

  • Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Kiribati's President Taneti Maamau shake hands during a signing ceremony in Beijing, China, January 6, 2020, photo by Mark Schiefelbein/Pool/Reuters

    Testimony

    China's Gambit in the Pacific

    The geostrategic dynamics between China, the Pacific Island countries, and the United States and its allies and partners have evolved over the years. What are China's strategic goals for the region? And how could the United States improve its profile as China continues to try to enhance its own?

    Aug 3, 2022

  • A concerned young woman looks at a pregnancy test, photo by VioletaStoimenova/Getty Images

    Commentary

    How Policies That Punish Pregnant Women Backfire

    There is overwhelming evidence and consensus from the medical and public health communities that supportive approaches are what help pregnant women with substance use disorders. Unfortunately, the overturning of Roe v. Wade has opened the door for more policies that police and punish women rather than these solutions that can save lives.

    Aug 2, 2022

  • A sign advertising for workers outside of a gas station in Danville, Pennsylvania, March 29, 2022, photo by Paul Weaver/Reuters

    Commentary

    Got a Labor Shortage? Make It Easier to Work

    If the United States wants to avoid a long-term worker shortage, it should look to what policy can—but has failed to—fully address. We have a long history using carrots and sticks, but this is a problem we may not be able to cajole or punish our way out of. Finding workers can be as simple as giving more people a chance to work.

    Aug 2, 2022

  • Young Black man having blood drawn, photo by miodrag ignjatovic/Getty Images

    News Release

    Predicting Patients' Race and Ethnicity Can Improve Equity in Health Care Delivery

    Algorithms designed to guide medical care can contribute to racially inequitable outcomes, but eliminating information about patient race and ethnicity as an input to algorithms is not the right way to address the issue.

    Aug 1, 2022