Category: Intel

Requiring low-performing students to repeat a grade has been a long-standing and highly debated intervention in the United States. Calls to end social promotion in schools in the 1990s, along with the increasing popularity of educational accountability and standardized testing, led to test-based retention policies in many states and school districts. As of 2020, for… Continue reading Can Grade Retention Help with COVID-19 Learning Recovery in Schools?

American soldiers have been deployed abroad almost continuously since the end of World War II. The best-known foreign interventions—in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq—were large, long, and costly. But there have been dozens of other such deployments, many smaller or shorter, for purposes ranging from deterrence to training. Taken as a whole, these operations have had… Continue reading Why U.S. Military Interventions Fail and What to Do About It

This week, we discuss how to encourage threat reporting to help keep schools safe; why national security organizations need a neurodivergent workforce; the F.D.A. approval of over-the-counter Narcan sales; the implications of labeling drug cartels foreign terrorists; what happens when struggling students repeat a grade; and helping veterans find employment during a recession. Photo by… Continue reading Violence in Schools, Neurodiversity and National Security, Drug Cartels: RAND Weekly Recap

Hydrogen (H2) plays a key role in the decarbonization plans of the European Union and the United States. Both have launched aggressive hydrogen strategies to increase the generation of H2 and the deployment of related technologies. But these bold ambitions may face headwinds caused by the acceleration of China’s energy transition. China is adding new… Continue reading Can China’s Green Energy Acceleration Put at Risk the West’s Hydrogen Plans?

The United States lacks the concepts and associated doctrine for its irregular warfare capabilities to achieve their potential in strategic competition. This challenge was articulated in 2013 in a hallmark collaboration (PDF) of Army Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno, Marine Corps Commandant James Amos, and U.S. Special Operations Commander William McRaven. Center to their critique… Continue reading Maximizing the Potential of American Irregular Warfare in Strategic Competition

Finland is at long last joining NATO, having applied together with Sweden last year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland’s accession represents a boon to NATO, a radical change in Finnish foreign and security policy, and another unplanned setback for Vladimir Putin’s Russia. While Finland is formally welcomed into the alliance by NATO… Continue reading Finland Joins NATO, Sweden’s Accession Remains Uncertain

The past two decades have seen an explosion in the adoption of the four-day school week. Though the policy has been documented as early as the 1930s, only 257 schools in the country had adopted it by 1999. Yet by 2019, over 1,600 schools were on a four-day schedule. There are no signs that the… Continue reading The Four-Day School Week: Are the Pros Worth the Cons?