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International Humanitarian Assistance

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Global efforts to assist underdeveloped nations and aid victims of environmental disasters and violent conflict can help ease human suffering, achieve long-term strategic goals in the affected region, and promote stability. RAND research on global health, nation-building, and stabilization and reconstruction operations has explored humanitarian activities undertaken by the Department of Defense and other U.S. government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and international organizations.

Essay
The Right Technology Can Help Refugees Stay Connected
Nearly 71 million people globally are displaced by conflict and persecution. There have been some real advances in technology to help them, but innovations have often been fragmented, without a larger vision. A more strategic approach to technology could better serve their needs.
Mar 11, 2020
Report
Building an Enduring Peace in Yemen
Peace in Yemen will require a coordinated approach to security and an international body with the influence, mission, and resources to support what will be a decades-long process of reconciliation, reconstruction, and redevelopment. To succeed, this body must be led by Yemenis, giving them a clear voice and stake in shaping their future.
Feb 25, 2021

Explore International Humanitarian Assistance

Report
U.S. Major Combat Operations in the Indo-Pacific: Partner and Ally Views
This report, one of two, focuses on whether partners and allies have the willingness to support U.S. operations in a major Indo-Pacific conflict. The companion report focuses on technical and operational issues.
May 16, 2023
Report
Weighing Options for Ukraine's Recovery
In making decisions about reconstruction, the Ukrainian people and their government will face trade-offs regarding timelines, prioritization of efforts, leadership, and funding. Understanding these trade-offs can improve their decisions and contribute to the transparency and integrity of the process.
May 2, 2023
Report
A New Approach to U.S. Security Policy in the Middle East
U.S. interests in the Middle East and the risks posed to them have evolved in ways that call for a modified set of priorities. The United States should not disengage from the region, but instead protect its interests by relying less on military operations and more on diplomacy and other civilian tools.
Sep 22, 2022
Report
Public Health and Soft Power: The Republic of Korea's Initial COVID-19 Response and Its Implications
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Republic of Korea (ROK) had one of the highest success rates in adopting effective nonpharmaceutical interventions. Can these pandemic response and foundation characteristics be turned into soft power assets for ROK?
Sep 7, 2022
Journal Article
Disasters and Indigenous Peoples: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Expert News Media
In this article, we aim to understand framings of Indigenous peoples in disaster management through a critical discourse analysis of how Indigenous peoples in disasters are represented in the expert news media.
May 19, 2022
Commentary
America Can Still Deliver on Global Vaccine Diplomacy
It is hard to see how science alone can end the pandemic without the rallying power of global diplomacy. The United States has played a leadership role in previous outbreaks, such as Ebola. It could play a similar role now to help consign the current pandemic to epidemic status.
Dec 28, 2021
Commentary
It's Time for the West to Engage with the Taliban
As a winter crisis looms, the Afghan people need support more than ever. Economic collapse and isolation risk provoking deeper instability, insecurity, and repression. The international community should now look seriously at making a deal with the Taliban to address these risks.
Dec 17, 2021
Commentary
With the Evacuation Over, Afghanistan Is Left to Contend with a Worsening Refugee Crisis
The more than 100,000 civilians recently evacuated from Afghanistan are a small fraction of those who have lost their homes and livelihoods due to war. To avoid worsening the existing humanitarian crisis, the global community should take swift action, including close coordination with regional and national players.
Sep 7, 2021
Report
New Solutions Are Urgently Needed for Displaced Populations
There are 30 million refugees around the globe. These people are living in limbo without full citizenship rights. And their host countries are experiencing ever-greater political and economic strains. The need to find both durable and interim solutions is critical.
Aug 26, 2021
Journal Article
Risk Technopolitics in Freetown Slums: Why Community-Based Disaster Management Is No Silver Bullet
Chapter from "Critical Disaster Studies" (Penn Press, 2021) detailing a study of Sierra Leone and proposing that community-based disaster risk management actually distracts from larger social and political root causes of vulnerability.
Jul 16, 2021
Commentary
Four Strategies to Reduce Disaster Risk in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Contexts
Addressing the circumstances for the more than two billion people living in fragile and conflict-affected contexts is crucial for delivering on the United Nations commitment for disaster risk reduction. Four strategies can help reduce risk and improve resilience for these communities.
Jul 9, 2021
Multimedia
Expert Insights: Crisis Response in a Changing Climate
In this audio conversation, senior analyst Lucia Retter is joined by Lieutenant General Richard Nugee, the nonexecutive director for climate change and sustainability for UK Defence, to discuss a study on the implications of climate change for UK defence logistics in crisis response situations.
Jun 4, 2021
Journal Article
Delivering the Promise of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Contexts (FCAC): A Case Study of the NGO GOAL's Response to the Syria Conflict
This paper offers a case study of international NGO GOAL's programming that responds to the protracted crisis in Syria, with critical discussion on SFDRR and how to adapt humanitarian relief and disaster resilience.
Apr 22, 2021
Multimedia
Under the Biden Administration: Will U.S.-Iran Relations Improve?
RAND senior international/defense policy researcher Heather Williams discusses the current landscape for improving the strained relationship between the United States and Iran.
Feb 4, 2021
Commentary
Why We 'Send Them Money'
Why does the United States send foreign countries American taxpayer money? The answer, in short, is because it serves U.S. self-interest to do so. Aid is not some act of charity at the American taxpayers' expense; it can help keep Americans safer, more prosperous, and secure.
Dec 30, 2020
Journal Article
Practitioner Approaches to Measuring Community Resilience: The Analysis of the Resilience of Communities to Disasters Toolkit
In this article, we present the Analysis of the Resilience of Communities to Disasters (ARC-D) toolkit, a practical toolkit developed by an international aid organization, GOAL, over the course of a decade of practice.
Jul 17, 2020
Commentary
COVID-19 Crisis Could Spur Post-Soviet Fixes
Much of the post-Soviet space remains afflicted with authoritarian rule, inefficient economies, corruption, and regional tensions. The COVID-19 crisis could prod countries to address key issues, but they will need help. Targeted Western aid could help willing countries make progress.
May 8, 2020
Report
Do Civilians Receive the Support They Need After Deployment?
As more U.S. government civilians have been deployed over the past two decades, increasing numbers have been exposed to high-threat environments. Combat exposure and related stressors correlate with significant levels of health conditions. How are these civilians reintegrated when they return?
Feb 11, 2020

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

James A. Schear

Adjunct Senior Political Scientist

James (Jim) A. Schear is an adjunct senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. Early in his career, he worked at the United Nations, supporting implementation of the 1991 Gulf War cease-fire resolutions and, shortly thereafter, as an advisor to UN missions in Cambodia and former…
Jason H. Campbell

Policy Researcher

Jason H. Campbell is a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, where he focuses on issues of international security, counterinsurgency, intelligence, and measuring progress in post-conflict reconstruction. From June 2016 through September 2018, he served as country director for Afghanistan in…

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