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.
EVENT
Afghanistan will be the topic of a June program led by Seth Jones, a RAND political scientist who served there in 2009 as advisor and plans officer for the commanding general, U.S. Special Operations Forces.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
This project addressed the lack of comparable health measures and indices across nations by developing a cross-national model for measuring health status..
COMMENTARY
The United States has yet to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. As a result, the U.S., the world's leading maritime power, is at a military and economic disadvantage, write Thad W. Allen, Richard L. Armitage, and John J. Hamre.
REPORT
The economic crisis of 2008 undid much of Europe's progress in employment and economic growth over the previous 20 years. A RAND Europe study proposes that European institutions should focus on policies that support the most vulnerable groups in society in order to grow employment and reduce income inequality.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Improving labour force participation and reducing income inequality require social investment in the groups at risk. This study identifies challenges and suggests ideas for policymakers to improve the situation.
NEWS RELEASE
European institutions should focus on policies that support the most vulnerable groups in society in order to grow employment and reduce income inequality.
REPORT
Testimony presented before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, subcommittee on Terrorism, HUMINT, Analysis, and Counterintelligence on April 13, 2011.
COMMENTARY
It's fashionable among academics and pundits to proclaim that the U.S. is in decline and no longer No. 1 in the world. The declinists say they are realists. In fact, their alarm is unrealistic, writes Charles Wolf, Jr.
COMMENTARY
The long-term objective of a train-and-equip program for the Libyan revolutionary government would be to create a professional military force in a post-Qaddafi Libya that could support democratic institutions free of extremist elements, writes Angel Rabasa.
COMMENTARY
Containing persistent maritime disorder might be more fruitful and could lay the foundations for a successful transition to better use of the sea once the societal factors—an even longer term problem—have been resolved, writes Laurence Smallman.
COMMENTARY
Instead of fanning piracy, international businesses need to heed policy. Ransoms in the short term can only lead to more problems in the long term, writes Laurence Smallman.
COMMENTARY
What has been happening in North Africa this year, in what seems to be the leading edge of a great wind of change sweeping the Arab world, will require the Europeans (along with the U.S. and others) to be deeply and durably engaged there — economically, politically and in humanitarian terms, writes Robert E. Hunter.
REPORT
Can military forces get their messages across more effectively? RAND Europe examines NATO's new Strategic Communication concept.
REPORT
Unstable and violent political environments often give rise to a range of complex problems for peaceful development. RAND Europe reviewed the state of the art in monitoring and evaluation in stabilization environments and found ways to improve practice.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Reviews the state of the art in monitoring and evaluation of stabilisation operations and suggests ways forward.
COMMENTARY
Pushing the European allies, especially Britain and France, to take more responsibility in managing crises would reduce the costs and burdens on the United States while providing an incentive for the Europeans to take defense more seriously, writes F. Stephen Larrabee.
COMMENTARY
Afghans in general are much more optimistic about their future than we Americans are about ours, write James Dobbins and Craig Charney.
REPORT
On November 7, 2009, the conference "Cross-Strait Relations: New Opportunities and Challenges for Taiwan's Security" brought together leading experts on political and military issues from both the United States and Taiwan to consider how a range of political, economic, and military factors are likely to shape Taiwan's security over the coming decade. The panelists' papers, included in these proceedings, represent a variety of views and…
REPORT
Assesses the security and economic policy responses of a representative sample of Asian states to China between 1992 and 2008.
REPORT
A focus on children, whose ideas are still being developed, may be more effective in promoting tolerance and critical thinking in the Arabic–speaking world than efforts directed toward adults, whose attitudes are already established.