RAND

Tele-Palliative Care Offers Access to Needed Support Palliative care focuses on improving quality of life for individuals with serious illnesses. Tele-palliative care offers access to care for those who might otherwise go without and has surprising adva...

If the challenges and limitations of tele-palliative care are managed carefully, then it could "redefine how compassionate care is delivered when it's needed most."

RAND experts explain: www.rand.org/pubs/comment...

Opinion | Peace Negotiations in Ukraine Haven’t Failed. They Haven’t Really Started.

"Negotiations to end the war in Ukraine have not failed. They haven't yet properly begun." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/o...

Ten Practical Principles for Policy and Program Analysis A key principle for policy analysis is that a good analysis should help the decisionmaker by explaining how the choice depends on key judgments rather than simply providing an answer. And most of the ...

Read much more advice from Enthoven. ⬇️

🔟 Think critically and realistically about implementation.

Consider the problems in carrying out the various alternatives and the prospects for success. An alternative might appear best when ignoring problems of implementation but might not really be best when considering them.

9️⃣ Don’t overemphasize the quantitative aspects, and don’t ignore nonquantifiable factors that may be decisive.

A good analysis will identify the most important factors in a problem, whether they can be represented numerically or not.

8️⃣ Design new alternatives. Go beyond the question asked to see whether others must be answered first.

A design of a good new alternative is likely worth more than a thorough evaluation of unsatisfactory old ones. And figuring out the right question is most of the job.

7️⃣ Consider the basis on which decisions are actually being made, and ask whether you can improve on it.

Improvements to the current basis for decisionmaking may be practical contributions today *and* steps to a more satisfactory analysis tomorrow.

6️⃣ Start by looking at the grand totals.

Whatever problem you’re studying, back off and look at the context. Don’t start with a small piece and work up—look at the grand total first and then break it down into its constituent parts.

5️⃣ It’s better to be roughly right than exactly wrong.

Analysts should focus on being sure that their most important data are roughly right rather than on undertaking refined manipulations of the data on the assumption that it’s accurate.

4️⃣ Keep it simple.

Even the most intelligent but busy decisionmakers must work in terms of simple ideas. The important thing is to be sure the simple ideas are valid insights and not the wrong simplifications or oversimplifications.

3️⃣ Don’t force your problem into an optimizing model.

There usually is no “best” answer. But you don’t have to be able to define the best answer to identify and avoid the bad ones.

2️⃣ Analysis should be open and explicit.

It’s not a substitute for debate, but it should provide a framework for constructive debate.

1️⃣ Good analysis is the servant of judgment, not a substitute for it.

Help the decisionmaker by explaining how the choice depends on key judgments—not by trying to tell them what the answer is.

Ten Practical Principles for Policy and Program Analysis A key principle for policy analysis is that a good analysis should help the decisionmaker by explaining how the choice depends on key judgments rather than simply providing an answer. And most of the ...

What makes policy and program analysis *good*?

Alain Enthoven offers 10 practical principles for analysts, updating advice from 1974 that’s just as potent today. 🧵

These wargames explored drone attacks on US military bases Many of the details of these wargames are classified, but one key finding is that protecting domestic U.S. bases can’t be just the military’s job.

How can authorities defend military bases in the United States from drone attacks?

RAND's Christopher Pernin discusses lessons from a recent series of wargames: www.defensenews.com/unmanned/202...

America Should Assume the Worst About AI How to plan for a tech-driven geopolitical crisis.

"Planning for the impacts of artificial general intelligence on national security needs to start now."

New insights from RAND's Matan Chorev and Joel Predd: www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Mental health needs are rising among teens, but not all get the care they need. Can telehealth help bridge the gap? Recent paper in the Journal of Adolescent Health led by @rand.org‬ colleague Josh Breslau helps answer the question

U.S. Navy Force Structure: The Challenge of Global Crisis Response Over several decades, the Navy's force structure has gotten smaller, although the overall capabilities of its ships and submarines have improved and expanded. What are potential force structure shortf...

RAND's Bradley Martin explores the mismatch between the challenges likely to face the U.S. Navy and the Navy's likely force structure. www.rand.org/pubs/researc...

How to Prevent Catastrophe in Outer Space Space is becoming more congested, contested, and competitive. This poses serious risks—from satellites colliding to a major conflict breaking out. How can humanity prevent such a disaster? RAND's Bruc...

Space is becoming more congested, contested, and competitive. This poses serious risks—from satellites colliding to a major conflict breaking out. How can humanity prevent such a disaster?

🎧 Listen to the latest episode of Policy Minded: www.rand.org/pubs/podcast...

Five Questions: Peter Hussey on How to Fix American Health Care The United States is projected to spend more than $5 trillion this year on health care. Yet by most measures, the system performs worse than those in other wealthy nations. Peter Hussey, vice presiden...

"Every interaction we have with our health care system is more expensive than in other countries."

New Q&A with RAND's Peter Hussey explains why—and what might be done about it: www.rand.org/pubs/comment...

How are U.S. public schools tackling the growing youth mental health crisis? A new study led by my @rand.org colleague Jon Cantor gives us some answers.

Building Taiwan's Resilience Taiwan has a rich history of volunteerism and experience with disaster response but efforts to build its civilian resilience against a potential wartime scenario are still in their initial stages. How...

In light of China's increased military threats and intimidation activities, how could Taiwan improve its civilian resilience capabilities?

Our new report explores: www.rand.org/pubs/researc...

Supporting Community Mental Health in Libraries In this toolkit, the authors draw from the Libraries for Health pilot program to provide instructions and ideas to libraries that are interested in adopting mental health supports, aiming to build com...

Libraries can be hubs for mental health support, especially in rural communities.

This new toolkit can help libraries build community capacity for mental health and well-being: www.rand.org/pubs/tools/T...

Iran and the Logic of Limited Wars Israel's air war against Iran may be over, but the controversy surrounding the attacks lives on. While the operation didn't obliterate Iran's nuclear program, it degraded capabilities, buying time and...

Limited wars rarely offer a permanent resolution. "But they can buy time, shift the geopolitical dynamic and, in doing so, pave the way to something more enduring," says RAND's Raphael Cohen. www.rand.org/pubs/comment...

Six ways AI could cause the next big war, and why it probably won’t Unlike dystopian visions of artificial intelligence ushering in a new era of conflict and chaos, the likelihood of AI tools directly triggering a major war appears limited. But there are specific p...

"The likelihood of AI tools directly triggering a major war appears limited. But there are specific pathways that could increase the risk of conflict if governments do not manage them properly." www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

China's Engagement with Africa Africa became intertwined economically and politically with China as the West retreated at the end of the Cold War. The West attached conditions to loans and assistance offered to African countries bu...

New research primer on China's engagement with Africa: www.rand.org/pubs/researc...

How Allies Have Responded to Past U.S. Retrenchment A review of past instances of U.S. retrenchment provides insights into how allies might respond to shifts in strategy today. Cases of limited U.S. retrenchment from West Germany, South Korea, Japan, a...

To learn more and explore our recommendations for policymakers considering retrenchment, read the brief: www.rand.org/pubs/researc...

Also, modern-day U.S. allies are more economically intertwined with China than allies were with rivals during the Cold War. This raises the possibility that retrenchment could have different effects on allies' alignment choices.

⚠️ Applying findings to the modern day requires care.

The more similar future U.S. strategic changes are to those found in these historical cases, the more likely they are to produce similar effects.

The most vulnerable ally, South Korea, initiated a nuclear program but abandoned it (after some resistance) under intense U.S. pressure.