The RAND Security Cooperation Prioritization and Propensity Matching Tool

The RAND Security Cooperation Prioritization and Propensity Matching Tool
Author: Christopher Paul
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013-11-06
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9780833080981

RAND research identified practices and factors associated with success in security cooperation. A related diagnostic tool can help defense planners identify mismatches between funding, priorities, and propensity for success with a given country.

The RAND Security Cooperation Prioritization and Propensity Matching Tool

The RAND Security Cooperation Prioritization and Propensity Matching Tool
Author: Christopher Paul
Publisher:
Total Pages: 57
Release: 2013
Genre: Decision making
ISBN: 9780833084606

Security cooperation is the umbrella term used to describe a wide range of programs and activities with such goals as building relationships between the United States and partner countries, developing these countries' security capabilities, and facilitating contingency and peacetime access by U.S. forces. With increased pressure on defense spending, the scope and budget for these activities are likely to decrease. Therefore, it will be important for the U.S. Department of Defense to scrutinize and, perhaps, reevaluate current and proposed security cooperation efforts, ensuring that expected benefits align with costs and corresponding policy priorities. Recent RAND research identified practices and contextual factors associated with greater or lesser degrees of success in security cooperation, using 29 historical case studies of U.S. efforts to build partner capacity since the end of the Cold War. The RAND Security Cooperation Prioritization and Propensity Matching Tool applies these findings and results from other existing research to all current and potential security cooperation partners. This customizable diagnostic tool, built in Microsoft Excel®, will help planners preliminarily identify mismatches between the importance of a country to U.S. interests, funding for initiatives, and the propensity for successful U.S. security cooperation with a given country. For each of the world's 195 countries, the tool produces an overall security cooperation propensity score. Planners can then compare these scores with available funding and security cooperation priorities. The tool has the virtues of being systematic, being based on global data, and not relying on subjective assessments. Strategic thinking and nuanced understanding of individual countries remain important, but the tool is useful in helping to identify which countries to scrutinize.

Making Out-of-School-Time Matter

Making Out-of-School-Time Matter
Author: Susan J. Bodilly
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 152
Release: 2005-01-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0833040642

Presents the findings of a broad-ranging literature review intended to identify, frame, and assess relevant issues concerning effective out-of-school-time (OST) programs. Drawing on recent studies the authors identify and address the level of demand for OST services, the effectiveness of offerings, what constitutes quality in OST programs, how to encourage participation, and how to build further community capacity. They make recommendations for improving the information used in policy making.

Implications of Modern Decision Science for Military Decision-support Systems

Implications of Modern Decision Science for Military Decision-support Systems
Author: Paul K. Davis
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2005
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0833038087

A selective review of modern decision science and implications for decision-support systems. The study suggests ways to synthesize lessons from research on heuristics and biases with those from "naturalistic research." It also discusses modern tools, such as increasingly realistic simulations, multiresolution modeling, and exploratory analysis, which can assist decisionmakers in choosing strategies that are flexible, adaptive, and robust.

Blinders, Blunders, and Wars

Blinders, Blunders, and Wars
Author: David C. Gompert
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2014-11-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 0833087789

The history of wars caused by misjudgments, from Napoleon’s invasion of Russia to America’s invasion of Iraq, reveals that leaders relied on cognitive models that were seriously at odds with objective reality. Blinders, Blunders, and Wars analyzes eight historical examples of strategic blunders regarding war and peace and four examples of decisions that turned out well, and then applies those lessons to the current Sino-American case.

Building Security in Africa

Building Security in Africa
Author: Stephen Watts
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781977400499

The United States has sought to combat security threats in Africa principally by supporting partner governments, and security sector assistance (SSA) has been one of the primary tools it has used. Rigorous evaluations of the overall impact of SSA, however, have been extremely rare. A RAND Corporation study used statistical models to evaluate the impact that U.S.-provided SSA has had on political violence in Africa-in particular, the incidence of civil wars and insurgencies, terrorist attacks, and state repression. The authors found that SSA has had a mixed record. During the Cold War, SSA likely exacerbated instability, leading to a higher incidence of civil wars. During the post-Cold War era, it seems to have had little net effect, likely reflecting recipient-government failures to sustain the capabilities developed through SSA and to harness these capability gains to effective political-military strategies. When SSA has been implemented in conjunction with peacekeeping operations, however, it has had a consistently positive impact across a range of outcomes, including the likelihood of civil war recurrence, the incidence of terrorist attacks, and the extent of state repression. These findings have important implications for future U.S. policies in Africa and potentially beyond.

I Want You!

I Want You!
Author: Bernard D. Rostker
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 833
Release: 2006-09-08
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0833040685

As U.S. military forces appear overcommitted and some ponder a possible return to the draft, the timing is ideal for a review of how the American military transformed itself over the past five decades, from a poorly disciplined force of conscripts and draft-motivated "volunteers" to a force of professionals revered throughout the world. Starting in the early 1960s, this account runs through the current war in Iraq, with alternating chapters on the history of the all-volunteer force and the analytic background that supported decisionmaking. The author participated as an analyst and government policymaker in many of the events covered in this book. His insider status and access offer a behind-the-scenes look at decisionmaking within the Pentagon and White House. The book includes a foreword by former Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird. The accompanying DVD contains more than 1,700 primary-source documents-government memoranda, Presidential memos and letters, staff papers, and reports-linked directly from citations in the electronic version of the book. This unique technology presents a treasure trove of materials for specialists, researchers, and students of military history, public administration, and government affairs to draw upon.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education
Author: Lois M. Davis
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 110
Release: 2013-08-21
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0833081322

After conducting a comprehensive literature search, the authors undertook a meta-analysis to examine the association between correctional education and reductions in recidivism, improvements in employment after release from prison, and other outcomes. The study finds that receiving correctional education while incarcerated reduces inmates' risk of recidivating and may improve their odds of obtaining employment after release from prison.

Russia and the Information Revolution

Russia and the Information Revolution
Author: D. J. Peterson
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 139
Release: 2005-11-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0833041010

This work, the result of a six-year study, sheds light on Russia's role in the global Information Revolution. It examines Russia's increasing reliance on information and communications technologies (IT) to improve its government institutions, modernize business and industry and stimulate economic growth, broaden information access, and enhance the quality of life for Russian people. The author examines Russia's emerging IT sector, how businesses in Russia are seeking to use IT to enhance productivity and profitability, the impact of IT on government, and the course of the Information Revolution in Russian society.