Category: Intel

Last night, President Joe Biden delivered his first official State of the Union address, rebuking a revanchist Russia days after its invasion of Ukraine, aiming to turn a page on the COVID-19 pandemic, and covering a wide range of important domestic issues facing the United States. To develop effective, evidence-based solutions to these problems, policymakers… Continue reading State of the Union 2022: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and Domestic Policy

Russia has launched an unprecedented act of aggression against Ukraine. The United States and its allies must respond forcefully. But as they do, they should take into account the possibility of triggering a spiral of escalation that could lead to the only outcome worse than the invasion of Ukraine itself: a hot war between Russia… Continue reading Ensuring Russia’s War with Ukraine Doesn’t Morph into Direct Conflict with NATO

  It is clear that Russia is pulling out all the stops in their invasion of Ukraine. Traditional and Internet Information sources have been prime targets.   In response to the damage done to these information vectors, the BBC is reviving its shortwave radio service in Ukraine and Russia.     The March 3, 2022… Continue reading When the new doesn’t work – try the old – BBC Resurrects Shortwave Radio

With Russian President Vladimir Putin invading a neighboring non-NATO nation and engaging in nuclear saber rattling, the alliance’s Article 5 mutual-defense guarantee may have gained new appeal for NATO’s two Nordic partners, Finland and Sweden. Indeed, Finnish politicians began debating membership in Helsinki Tuesday, with a new poll showing support for joining the alliance. Both… Continue reading Complex—but Promising—Prospects as Finland and Sweden Mull NATO Membership

Russian and U.S. diplomats held multiple meetings last week to discuss the fate of Ukraine—talks that apparently failed to defuse the crisis. The U.S. government warned Friday of potential sabotage operations in Ukraine, a move that might give Moscow a pretext to mobilize some 100,000 Russian troops near the border to cross into Ukraine. Russian… Continue reading Biden’s Rhetoric on Ukraine Has Been Quite Moderate. Here’s What That Means

Much of the Western discussion about helping Ukraine in the face of overwhelming Russian military advantage centers on relatively short-range weapons and tactics meant to enmesh an invasion force in the “next Afghanistan” or a “near certainty of hell”: for example, providing more Javelin anti-tank weapons, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, and weaponized drones; or training Ukrainian… Continue reading Ukraine Needs Help Surviving Airstrikes, Not Just Killing Tanks

This week, we discuss U.S.-Russia diplomacy in the context of the Ukraine crisis; how citizen science can help communities become safer and stronger; protecting the U.S. blood supply from future shocks; how the pandemic affected military recruitment and retention; U.S. capacity-building efforts in Africa; and new “visual essays” that show why people might join—and later… Continue reading U.S.-Russia Diplomacy, Citizen Science, America’s Blood Supply: RAND Weekly Recap

With Russian forces massed on Ukraine’s borders, the policy discussion in Washington increasingly has focused on what the United States can do to help its Ukrainian partners defend their country. Just this week, the Biden administration has approved deliveries of U.S.-made Stinger shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles to Kyiv, in addition to upping provision of other military… Continue reading U.S. Military Aid to Ukraine: A Silver Bullet?

After much hemming and hawing, Congress in December finally passed a $768 billion defense authorization bill, some $25 billion over what the Biden administration had requested. For defense hawks, this is good news. With China becoming increasingly belligerent towards Taiwan, Russia poised to invade Ukraine, and Iran stiff-arming nuclear negotiations, the United States faces intensifying… Continue reading American Deterrence’s Missing Half

A Japanese politician who played an important part in the history of U.S.-Japan relations died recently, and chances are you’ve never heard of him. Kaifu Toshiki was Japan’s prime minister from 1989 to 1991, a critical time in U.S.-Japan relations as the world was transitioning from the Cold War to the fog that lay beyond.… Continue reading The Premier Who Helped Change U.S.-Japan Relations