Recent high-profile outbreaks such as Ebola and Zika have illustrated the transnational nature of infectious diseases. Countries that are most vulnerable to outbreaks may be higher priorities for technical support. RAND’s Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index should help U.S. government and international agencies identify these countries and inform programming to preemptively mitigate the spread and effects of potential transnational outbreaks.

This report presents results from a systematic review and meta-analyses of research examining how mindfulness meditation affects 13 performance-related outcomes of interest to the U.S. Army and broader military. The authors supplemented the systematic review by examining how mindfulness meditation could support stress management and exploring characteristics of selected mindfulness programs.

This study for the U.S. Marine Corps presents a historical overview of the integration of women into the U.S. military and explores the importance of cohesion and what influences it. The gender integration experiences of foreign militaries, as well as the gender integration efforts of domestic police and fire departments, are analyzed for insights into effective policies. The potential costs of integration are analyzed as well.

Every president needs a decisionmaking system that harnesses the full capabilities and accumulated wisdom of the U.S. government and the nation’s many stakeholders. This Perspective analyzes a range of management challenges in the national security system and presents recommendations for strengthening U.S. decisionmaking and oversight of policy implementation.

In 2010, 15 percent of Americans older than age 70 had dementia. By 2050, the number of new dementia cases among those 65 and older is expected to double. This blueprint outlines policy options to help decisionmakers improve dementia long-term services and supports (LTSS) by promoting earlier detection, improving access to LTSS, promoting person- and caregiver-centered care, supporting caregivers, and reducing dementia LTSS costs.

To improve the U.S. education system through more-effective classroom teaching, in school year 2009–2010, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced its Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching. Researchers from the RAND Corporation and the American Institutes for Research evaluated implementation of key reform elements of the program in three public school districts and four charter management organizations.

For over a decade, operations associated with irregular warfare have placed large demands on U.S. ground forces and have led to development of new Army and Joint doctrine. This report helps analysts identify and assess twelve key factors that create and perpetuate environments susceptible to insurgency, terrorism, and other extremist violence and instability to inform military decisions on allocation of analytic and security assistance resources.

This report examines the technical challenges associated with incorporating bulk, automated analysis of social media information into procedures for vetting people seeking entry into the United States. The authors identify functional requirements and a framework for operational metrics for the proposed social media screening capabilities and provide recommendations on how to implement those capabilities.

Machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence influence many aspects of life today and have gained an aura of objectivity and infallibility. The use of these tools introduces a new level of risk and complexity in policy. This report illustrates some of the shortcomings of algorithmic decisionmaking, identifies key themes around the problem of algorithmic errors and bias, and examines some approaches for combating these problems.

This report examines the portfolio of tools funded by the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor that help support Internet freedom and assesses the impact of these tools in promoting U.S. interests (such as freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and the free flow of information) without enabling criminal activity.

This study explores Iranian influence in Afghanistan and the implications for the United States after most U.S. forces depart Afghanistan in 2016. Iran has substantial economic, political, cultural, and religious leverage in Afghanistan. Although Iran will attempt to shape a post-2014 Afghanistan, Iran and the United States share core interests: to prevent the country from again becoming dominated by the Taliban and a safe haven for al Qaeda.

This report provides information known by the end of 2011 about the Islamic State’s origins, finances, organization, methods of establishing territorial control, and response to airpower. Countering the Islamic State can rely, in part, on the great deal of accumulated knowledge available. Iraqis and coalition forces routed the group once, and this history can inform the components of another successful strategy to defeat the Islamic State.