Building the Knowledge and Skills the U.S. Air Force Needs for Strategic Competition with China
The U.S. Air Force recognizes China as its primary pacing threat but lacks a coordinated system to develop, track, and apply China‑relevant expertise across its ranks. Interviews, policy reviews, and historical case studies reveal that language, cultural, and regional knowledge remain limited, unevenly recognized, and often hindered by career disincentives. Educational pockets exist, yet resource constraints and weak talent‑identification tools prevent scaling. The authors propose a tiered development framework, curated learning resources, and improved tracking to embed China expertise into the force.
Infinite Potential—Insights From the Business and Civil Society Scenario
The Infinite Potential platform released an after‑action report on its Business and Civil Society scenario, where CEOs, investors, technologists and civic leaders grappled with overlapping AI and AGI challenges. Participants framed AGI as a dual national‑security and social legitimacy crisis,...
Assessing Bias and Precision in State Policy Evaluations
The study used state‑level opioid overdose deaths (1999‑2016) to test seven panel‑data estimators under four time‑varying policy scenarios. Simulations revealed that augmented synthetic control reduced bias but raised variance when effects waned, while difference‑in‑differences struggled with non‑monotonic impacts and autoregressive...
Improving Access to Out-of-School Time Opportunities in Allegheny County
The RAND report maps out‑of‑school time (OST) programs across Allegheny County, revealing that while government funding rose between 2012 and 2024, much of the recent increase was pandemic‑driven and has since faded. Local foundations have kept their contributions steady, yet...
A Flawed Formula for Peace in Ukraine
U.S.-led negotiations to end the Ukraine war have been suspended, largely because the talks were built around a land‑for‑security trade‑off. The current U.S. framework demands Ukraine cede roughly 20% of the Donbas in exchange for American and European security guarantees....
RAND Research on Workforce and Force Development Innovation
RAND Project AIR FORCE has delivered a suite of research to support the U.S. Space Force’s Vector 2025 transformation, covering Force Design, Development, Generation, and Employment. The studies propose a matrix‑based career model, flexible service contracts, and the SPAFORGEN readiness cycle,...
Making Bricks From Straw
A randomized field experiment in Nigeria gave 600,000 ₦ (≈ $1,300) grants to public health clinics, letting staff control the money over a year. The autonomous funding spurred sizable productivity gains, with clinics investing in both physical assets and staff development. Patient...
Autoregressive Models for Panel Data Causal Inference with Application to State-Level Opioid Policies
A team of researchers introduced an autoregressive framework for causal inference in panel data, targeting the evaluation of state‑level opioid policies. The method addresses staggered adoption and limited sample sizes that hinder traditional difference‑in‑differences and synthetic‑control approaches. Simulations mirroring real‑world...
Multilevel Predictors of Intervention Uptake and Postintervention Physical Activity Behaviors Among Churchgoing Latino Adults
A multilevel, faith‑based physical activity (PA) trial in East Los Angeles tracked 195 Latino adults from 2019‑2025, offering park‑based and online exercise classes. Logistic and linear regressions examined how baseline neighborhood, psychosocial, and sociodemographic factors predicted class attendance and post‑intervention...
Between Doubt and Diagnosis
A qualitative study of 23 patients who experienced delayed diagnoses across five conditions reveals that emotional fallout outweighs clinical consequences. Most participants felt dismissed by clinicians, fueling frustration, anger, and self‑doubt. Receiving a definitive diagnosis provided relief and validation, yet...
Chemicals
The European Union has prioritized green‑tech and critical minerals to boost supply‑chain resilience, but its chemical sector strategy remains underdeveloped. Chemicals, essential to everything from automotive tires to medical devices, are as vital to Europe’s economic security as rare earths....
Infinite Potential—Insights From the Viral Uplift Scenario
A multi‑agency after‑action report examined how artificial intelligence could be misused to create novel biological threats, simulating an accidental AI‑generated virus release that sparked a global pandemic. The exercise involved 119 senior officials and experts across ten scenarios, highlighting decision...
Designing Incident Reporting Systems for Harms From General-Purpose AI
A RAND research paper outlines a conceptual framework for AI incident reporting systems, targeting safety and rights harms from general‑purpose AI. The authors identify seven design dimensions—policy goal, actors, incident types, risk level, enforcement, anonymity, and post‑report actions—and illustrate them...
How Do We Build a Dutch War Economy?
The RAND paper examines how the Netherlands could develop a European‑style war economy in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and pandemic‑induced supply‑chain shocks. It notes French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for a continent‑wide war economy and argues that...
Factors Associated with Patient Portal Use in a Nationally Representative Sample
The study surveyed 1,672 U.S. adults to map patient portal usage, finding roughly 75% accessed test results and health records while about 50% used portals for messaging, appointments, or bill payment. Usage was significantly higher among women, non‑Hispanic whites, college‑educated...
