October 2013

Myanmar

commentary
Who's Bombing Myanmar?
After a half-century of hermetic authoritarianism, Myanmar's re-entry into the world community has been one of the biggest (and most optimistic) stories in Asia. Yet an upswing in ethnic and religious conflict could put Myanmar's progress at risk.
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Oct 30, 2013
CNN
Jonah Blank

Underage Substance Use Prevention

blog
Group Motivational Interviewing Can Help Teens Make Healthy Choices
Group motivational interviewing is a guided therapeutic approach that helps people think about their motivations for behavior and their commitment to change. It is an excellent fit for adolescents, because it engages them about their personal experiences while eliciting ideas about how they can change and make healthy choices.
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Oct 29, 2013
Elizabeth J. D'Amico
Transportation Planning

blog
What Mobility Might Look Like in the U.S. in 2030
Mobility — the ability to travel from one location to another — may look very different in the United States in the year 2030. Three key drivers differentiate possible scenarios: the price of oil, the development of environmental regulations, and the amount of highway revenues and expenditures.
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Oct 28, 2013
Global Health

commentary
The Most Dangerous Mistake You Can Make During Flu Season
Despite public awareness campaigns in the United States and Europe, many people persist in the mistaken belief that antibacterial drugs — like amoxicillin and azithromycin — are the best treatment for flu. And many doctors simply surrender when patients demand them, ignoring the scientific and medical truth: when treating the flu, antibacterial drugs just don't work.
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Oct 28, 2013
Reuters, The Great Debate blog
Jonathan Grant, Jirka Taylor
Energy Security

blog
Using Air Power Against Pirates Off West Africa
A U.S. Official has confirmed that two mariners thought to be U.S. Citizens were kidnapped from an American ship in a pirate attack off of the West African coast — the 40th such attack reported in the Gulf of Guinea in 2013. The current security situation in the Gulf has affected petroleum and natural gas production.
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Oct 25, 2013
Pediatric Medicine

blog
Mark Schuster Elected to the Institute of Medicine
Dr. Mark Schuster has been elected to the Institute of Medicine. He is an adjunct researcher at RAND and the William Berenberg Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Chief of General Pediatrics and Vice Chair for Health Policy in the Department of Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital.
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Oct 25, 2013
Homeland Security Legislation

commentary
Challenges and Opportunities Ahead for New Homeland Security Secretary
To ensure the Department of Homeland Security makes progress in the current constrained budget environment, its new secretary must put in place a strategic perspective to guide priorities for how to address the country's most pressing problems in disaster management, immigration reform, cybersecurity, violent extremism, and nuclear terrorism.
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Oct 24, 2013
The RAND Blog
Henry H. Willis @HenryHWillis
Counterterrorism

commentary
How War on Terrorism Has Evolved
Special operations to capture terrorists are more dangerous than drone strikes, and nimble terrorist adversaries will develop countermeasures to make them even more difficult. But they are politically more acceptable and offer opportunities for intelligence and the visible delivery of justice.
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Oct 24, 2013
USA Today
Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins
Geriatrics

blog
RAND Summer Institute July 7–10, 2014
Applications are being accepted now through March 21 for the 21st annual RAND Summer Institute (RSI), a pair of conferences on aging that will be held next July 7–10 at the RAND Corporation headquarters in Santa Monica.
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Oct 22, 2013
Afghanistan

blog
Weighing Afghanistan in 2013 Against the Counterinsurgency Scorecard
Early 2013 Afghanistan ranks among the historical counterinsurgency winners, but its score is equal to those of the lowest-scoring historical wins. This tenuous position points to several areas in need of improvement.
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Oct 21, 2013
Counterterrorism

commentary
The Future of Counterterrorism: Fewer Drones, More Partnerships
Drones are just one of three principal U.S. counterterrorism tools. Special Operations forces are now relying on a more balanced mix of tactics: Launching raids and developing partner forces offer more versatility than drone strikes and will probably become the wave of the future as America's big wars wind down.
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Oct 21, 2013
The Washington Post
Linda Robinson
$boy getting checkup$
Medicaid

q&a
Quick Takes: The Math of Medicaid Expansion
Expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is both contentious and complicated. RAND mathematician Carter Price has been using the COMPARE model to help those making decisions understand what their choices mean for their budgets and population health.
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Oct 21, 2013
Cannabis

commentary
Has U.S. Gone Further Than Netherlands Over Marijuana?
Colorado and Washington will remove the prohibition on commercial marijuana production and distribution for nonmedical purposes and start regulating and taxing it. Not even the Netherlands goes that far, writes Beau Kilmer.
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Oct 18, 2013
CNN
Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer
Military Technology

commentary
War Robots Will Lessen Killing—Not Increase It
Could armed autonomous robots embark on a campaign of indiscriminate killing? John Matsumura says that there is a convincing base of evidence that robots are more likely to prevent slaughter than engage in it.
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Oct 18, 2013
Christian Science Monitor
John Matsumura
Special Operations Forces

blog
Robinson Book on Special Ops Earns Plaudits
Linda Robinson's One Hundred Victories shows how special operations forces are evolving to become the go-to force for military operations worldwide. The author, a senior international policy analyst at RAND, draws from her own on-the-ground reporting and interviews with key players inside the national defense community.
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Oct 17, 2013
Data Science

announcement
Willis Ware Inducted Into the National Cyber Security Hall of Fame
The board of advisors for the National Cyber Security Hall of Fame has chosen Willis H. Ware, computer scientist emeritus at RAND, as one of its five inductees for the Class of 2013.
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Oct 17, 2013