Category: Intel

The Taliban won the war in Afghanistan. Perhaps it was inevitable, perhaps it was not. But it is in any case a reality. And the consequences of the international withdrawal are horrifying. Half of the nearly 40 million people in Afghanistan are now at risk of famine and starvation. Covid-19 has spread across a country… Continue reading It’s Time for the West to Engage with the Taliban

New pandemic-era flexibility that allowed audio-only health visits to be routinely reimbursed as telehealth may be leading to substandard care for those it was meant to serve. Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, audio-only visits were rarely included in definitions of telehealth and seldom reimbursed. As clinicians were granted numerous flexibilities… Continue reading Rethinking the Impact of Audio-Only Visits on Health Equity

When the pandemic first struck, technological capabilities that already existed quickly became a critical and increasingly common part of people’s lives. It became routine to work or attend school from home, or for visits to the doctor’s office to be conducted via video chat. We have yet to see whether these trends will persist beyond… Continue reading Could the Move Toward Collaboration Technologies Change the Very Makeup of Populations?

The best RAND videos from the past year brought our research to life in new ways. From the sidewalks of Pittsburgh to preschools in the Middle East, see how people around the world are using RAND research to make their communities safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. And hear RAND experts describe how… Continue reading RAND Video Highlights of 2021

The word “kaleidoscopic” is probably overused by political analysts, but it seems an appropriate way to describe the complex negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict between the government of Pakistan and Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), a group referred to as terrorists by some and insurgents by others. Each turn of the instrument causes the pebbles to move,… Continue reading Complex Calculations Shape Pakistan-TTP Negotiations

Not even a full year into the Biden presidency, voters have grown weary of the Democratic Party and its leftward lurch; 65% of independent voters no longer believe that this country is headed in the right direction.  This means that the voting blocs Democrats have traditionally counted on to “vote blue no matter who” are… Continue reading The Three Issues That Will Win Hispanic Voters

We all know it by now: Omicron is coming. Actually, it’s already here. The question most of us are asking ourselves is now, “What does this mean for my family and my community?” The answer, depending on which news sources you consume and which commentators you follow on social media, is somewhere between impending doom… Continue reading What Can the U.S. Expect From Omicron?

The year began with a deadly attack on American democracy. On January 6, a mob of insurrectionists, persuaded by falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election, laid siege to the U.S. Capitol, attacking law enforcement officers and calling for the sitting vice president to be hanged. And while 2021 was the year of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines,… Continue reading The Most Popular RAND Research of 2021

And then there were 14. That was the new tally of Taiwan’s official diplomatic partners following Nicaragua’s decision earlier this month to swap ties with Taipei for Beijing. The Solomon Islands and Kiribati did the same in 2019. But a curious fact has been overshadowed in the coverage of Taiwan’s losses: Taipei has at times… Continue reading Taiwan Would Be Better Off Alone