Category: psychological

The recent NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, left the world asking a hard question: “Are we in a new Cold War with Russia?” Our answer is to a different, and harder, and more important question: Is Russia already at war with the West? Vladimir V. Putin has been in perpetual war with the West—defined by… Continue reading It Should Not Have Been a Surprise: The Threat from Putin’s Russia

This week, we discuss teachers’ views on carrying guns and on school safety overall; what F-16s will (and won’t) do for Ukraine; regulating commercial spaceflight; the future of Chinese psychological warfare; the parallels between Putin and Brezhnev; and who we honor on Memorial Day. A memorial outside Robb Elementary, where a gunman killed 19 children… Continue reading Arming Teachers, F-16s in Ukraine, Commercial Spaceflight: RAND Weekly Recap

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, an initiative dedicated to improving the nation’s understanding of mental health concerns and promoting access to quality behavioral health care. However, access to behavioral health services is one of the top challenges for the U.S. health care system, and this has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The shortage… Continue reading Addressing the Shortage of Behavioral Health Clinicians: Lessons from the Military Health System

  The 4th PSYOP Group (Fort Bragg, NC) created quite a hullaballoo with their May 2, 2022 recruiting video “Ghosts in the Machine” (which you can find at: https://bit.ly/3GeYEuX and is a photo source). The video employs Koko the Clown, which first appeared in Out of the Ink Well from 1918 – 1929. You can… Continue reading You Don’t Have to Like It

On February 23 Russia launched a war on Ukraine. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and its parliament (Rada) might accelerate steps to ensure the continuity of government, a need made more urgent because of the risk that Kyiv could soon fall. Zelensky may still underestimate dangers. Despite reports that government relocation plans have been discussed with… Continue reading Continuity of Government in Ukraine

TUCKER CARLSON: When permanent Washington pushes for war with Russia, who benefits? We don’t ask that question enough. The United States certainly doesn’t benefit. That’s obvious to anyone who thinks about it for a second. It’s so glaringly obvious, in fact, that the people pushing this war immediately denounce you as a traitor if you… Continue reading Tucker Carlson: D.C.’s Conflict With Russia Will Only Benefit China

In Australia, the prevailing view of mobilisation is that it is an activity associated with going to war. In the event of an armed conflict, the nation mobilises to support the Australian Defence Force. Against recent events, including the 2019–20 bushfires and COVID-19 pandemic, the ADF has mobilised to support the nation. As the range… Continue reading The Definition of Mobilisation

Oakland’s Rudsdale Newcomer High School—as its name implies—has a distinct student body: recent immigrant teens. Most came to California from Central America or Mexico. Many are in the country without legal immigration status or are seeking asylum here. Some came to the United States alone. These dislocated students confront the expected challenges, including interrupted schooling… Continue reading Addressing Immigration Doesn’t End at the Border—Schools Need Help

By one estimate, as many people experienced serious psychological distress in just the first month of the pandemic as during the entire year before it began. Elevated rates of anxiety and depression have persisted, drawing new attention to the U.S. mental health system—including fault lines that have persisted for decades. Almost 20 years ago, the… Continue reading How COVID-19 Lessons Can Transform U.S. Mental Health Care