Security Cooperation

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The NATO alliance served its participants well in countering the strategic threat once posed by the Soviet Union, but the rise of other regional powers and coalitions since end of the Cold War has prompted a reevaluation of existing alliances. RAND research has provided policymakers with essential information on how best to forge new defense cooperation agreements and strengthen old alliances to counter emerging security threats.

  • A pilot walks toward a lineup of F-16 Fighting Falcons before a flight at Clark Air Base, Philippines. Photo by Airman 1st Class Sebastian Romawac/Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs

    Research Brief

    How Could the United States Gain Greater Access to Asia During a Conflict?

    Ensuring access to the territories of Indo-Pacific allies and partners in the event of a future conflict with China is a critical concern. How are Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, and India likely to make access decisions? And can the United States influence their decisions?

    Nov 28, 2023

  • The South Korean and American flags fly next to each other in Yongin, South Korea, August 23, 2016, photo by Staff Sgt. Ken Scar/U.S. Army

    Report

    South Korea Needs Greater Nuclear Assurance

    With growing nuclear threats from North Korea and China, there has been considerable interest in South Korea in developing its own nuclear weapons. But doing so could become a major disaster. The United States should bring greater strategic clarity to its nuclear umbrella commitment to South Korea.

    Oct 29, 2023

Explore Security Cooperation

  • Technicians working at the construction site of the Chongqing section of the Baihetan-Jiangsu ultra-high-voltage UHV power transmission project over the Yangtze River in Chongqing, China, December 5, 2021, photo by IMAGO via Alamy

    Report

    China's Global Energy Interconnection Initiative

    China aims to build a worldwide power grid that addresses the growing demand for electricity while supporting the transition to net zero. Could the potential global security implications of a super grid governed by China outweigh its benefits?

    Dec 5, 2023

  • U.S. military personnel assigned to United States Central Command deliver supplies in support of a USAID-led humanitarian mission at Pakistan Air Base Nur Khan, Pakistan.

    Report

    Defense Planning Implications of Climate Change for U.S. Central Command

    This report examines how U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) planners could use operations, activities, and investments in the coming decades to address security threats related to stressors from climate change in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.

    Nov 29, 2023

  • Report

    Report

    U.S.-Japan Alliance Conference: The U.S.-Japan Alliance in an Era of Strategic Competition

    These proceedings present insights that experts of Europe, Japan, Taiwan, and U.S. security policies presented at RAND Corporation–hosted virtual conferences that explored relevant issues on the U.S.-Japan alliance regarding strategic competition.

    Nov 29, 2023

  • Report

    Report

    Improving Conflict-Phase Access: Identifying U.S. Policy Levers

    This report explores how U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific are likely to respond to military access requests in the event of a conflict with China and what policy levers the United States might use in peacetime to affect those responses.

    Nov 28, 2023

  • A simulated tactical nuclear attack drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and obtained by Reuters on September 3, 2023, photo by KCNA/Reuters

    Commentary

    Deterrence of North Korean Limited Nuclear Attacks

    No single action is likely to deter North Korean nuclear weapon use. But a combination of efforts may convince Kim Jong-un that any use of nuclear weapons for coercion would be very dangerous to his future, and could be a powerful approach to deterring North Korea.

    Nov 27, 2023

  • South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol (center) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as U.S. President Joe Biden looks on during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, California, November 16, 2023, photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

    Commentary

    South Korea's Surprisingly Successful China Policy

    When South Korea's president, Yoon Suk-yeol, entered office last year, the odds rose that a frostier bilateral relationship with China might take hold. But for now, at least, Yoon and his government have successfully managed China, and perhaps offered a road map for how others can too.

    Nov 27, 2023

  • A man passes the front gate of Sejm (lower house of Polish parliament) before the first session of the newly elected Polish parliament in Warsaw, Poland, November 13, 2023, photo by Kacper Pempel/Reuters

    Commentary

    Cherish Allies While You Can: What Should the U.S. Do To Support the Incoming Polish Government?

    Plenty has been said about what lessons Poland's recent elections hold for pro-democracy forces across the wider West, as well as the message this election sends about a feared inevitability of autocracy, and the significance of this opposition win for European security. But what does the election of an opposition alliance mean for U.S. relations with Warsaw?

    Nov 14, 2023

  • U.S. Coast Guard officers watch over more than 54,500 pounds of cocaine and 15,800 pounds of marijuana seized from multiple interdictions before they are unloaded from the Coast Guard Cutter James at Port Everglades, Florida, February 17, 2022, photo by Marco Bello/Reuters

    Testimony

    Ways to Enhance the U.S. Coast Guard's Interdiction Efforts

    Effective partnerships and investment in technology are essential for successful drug and migrant interception and international fisheries law enforcement. The U.S. Coast Guard's efforts could be improved through better information-sharing and leveraging of existing technology, and further interagency and international collaboration and cooperation.

    Nov 14, 2023

  • U.S. Marines run into the ocean during Marine Aviation Support Activity 23 in Palawan, Philippines, July 16, 2023, photo by Lance Cpl. Keegan Jones/U.S. Marine Corps

    Commentary

    China's Gray-Zone Tactics Show the U.S.-Philippine Alliance Is Working

    The United States should continue to offer military assistance and training to the Philippines so that Manila can increasingly counter China on its own while Washington continues to remind and warn Beijing that Article V must not be violated. This is the least risky option that also holds the greatest chance of success.

    Nov 7, 2023

  • NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, October 11, 2023, photo by Johanna Geron/Reuters

    Commentary

    NATO Needs a Plan for Military and Nonmilitary Instruments of Power to Work Together

    To adapt to changes in warfighting, NATO is developing a multi-domain operations warfighting concept. But for this concept to be successful, it must include a plan to manage military operations' increasing reliance on and interaction with nonmilitary instruments of power.

    Nov 6, 2023

  • U.S. service members participate with allies and partners from multiple nations in exercises throughout West Virginia, May and June 2023, photo by Staff Sgt. Jake SeaWolf/U.S. National Guard

    Commentary

    Winning the Irregular World War

    If the United States hopes to prevail in an asymmetrical world war, it must upgrade its abilities to provide self-defense and resistance support to its allies and partners, and better coordinate its disparate efforts to counter Russia and China across departments and agencies.

    Nov 6, 2023

  • A Marine amphibious assault crewman with 3rd Marine Regiment communicates with other AAVs after landing ashore at the Naval Education Training Center in Zambales, Philippines, April 21, 2015, photo by Cpl. Matthew J. Bragg/U.S. Marine Corps

    Commentary

    Inflection Point: How to Reverse the Erosion of U.S. and Allied Military Power and Influence

    U.S. military forces no longer enjoy the kind of comprehensive superiority that was the foundation of victories over adversary states. Re-establishing a credible posture against aggression by highly capable adversaries will call for sustained, coordinated efforts by the United States, its allies, and its key partners to rethink their approaches to defeating aggression and to recast important elements of their military forces and postures.

    Nov 3, 2023

  • Two Japan Air Self Defense Force F-15s fly alongside a U.S. Air Force KC-135 from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron, Kadena Air Base, during air refueling training July 30, 2009, photo ny Tech. Sgt. Angelique Perez/U.S. Air Force

    Commentary

    Japan's Play for Today: Too Much? Just Right? Or Never Enough?

    Japan is pushing ahead on a broad array of initiatives meant to strengthen the Self-Defense Forces' deterrent power across multiple domains. But there are bound to be limits in manpower, resources, capacity, or capabilities that will place limits on what the end point of Japan's buildup ultimately looks like.

    Oct 31, 2023

  • RAND Weekly Recap

    Blog

    Israel-Hamas War, AI and Gene Editing, Social Media Regulation: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on the Israel-Hamas war, the convergence of machine learning and gene editing, regulating social media while protecting free speech, and more.

    Oct 27, 2023

  • U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, June 27, 2022, photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

    Commentary

    India-Canada Spat Is No-Win Situation for the U.S.

    For the United States, the ongoing diplomatic row between Canada and India is very uncomfortable because Washington has no interest in choosing sides. The best-case scenario for the Biden administration is that Canada and India resolve their differences privately and expeditiously, without any need for U.S. mediation.

    Oct 25, 2023

  • Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, U.S. President Joe Biden, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California, March 13, 2023, photo by Leah Millis/Reuters

    Commentary

    AUKUS as Big Science?

    AUKUS—the trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—framed as a multinational quest for discovery rather than a security pact made sensible by deterrence logics, could be a political boon, both diplomatically and domestically.

    Oct 24, 2023

  • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held the Fifth Enlarged Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang, North Korea in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 11, 2022, photo by KCNA via Reuters

    Commentary

    What North Korea Is Learning from the Hamas-Israel War

    South Korea and the United States should rein in North Korean nuclear weapon production and prepare to respond to escalated North Korean coercion. While Kim Jong-un probably won't resort to a Hamas-style attack, he certainly shares Hamas' goal of cultivating U.S. reluctance to get involved militarily in the region.

    Oct 24, 2023

  • Israel's newest F-16I fighter jets take off for an airstrike mission in the Gaza Strip on October 16, 2023, photo by EyePress News/Reuters

    Commentary

    The Four Questions the U.S. Military Should Be Asking About Operation Swords of Iron

    The war in Gaza, much like previous Israeli wars, will likely yield a host of lessons for American military planners. It's not too early to identify the right questions to be asking as the conflict unfolds.

    Oct 23, 2023

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