RAND Best Sellers for April 2009
The books listed below are RAND's top-ten, best sellers for April 2009. You can find these and other RAND publications in bookstores; they may also be ordered through RAND. Also see RAND Book Reviews.
1.
Thinking About America's Defense: An Analytical Memoir
Over his 33 years in the Air Force and more than 20 years at RAND, Lt Gen Glenn A. Kent was a uniquely acute analyst and developer of American defense policy. In this volume, he offers not so much a memoir in the normal sense as a summary of the dozens of national security issues in which he was personally engaged during his long career. In the process, he describes the related analytical frameworks and illustrates the bureaucratic intricacies.
2.
Considering the Creation of a Domestic Intelligence Agency in the United States: Lessons from the Experiences of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom
With terrorism still prominent on the U.S. agenda, whether the country's prevention efforts match the threat the United States faces continues to be central in policy debate. Does the country need a dedicated domestic intelligence agency? Case studies of five other democracies — Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK — provide lessons and common themes that may help policymakers decide.
3.
Review and Evaluation of the VA Enrollee Health Care Projection Model
The Department of Veterans Affairs relies on the Enrollee Health Care Projection Model (EHCPM) to project veteran enrollment, enrolled veterans' use of health care services, and the cost of providing those services. This evaluation of the EHCPM examines its accuracy and validity, identifies potential model enhancements, and assesses the risks and benefits posed by the VA's reliance on the model for budgeting and planning.
4.
Improving Capacity for Stabilization and Reconstruction Operations
U.S. experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan have demonstrated that improving U.S. capacity for stabilization and reconstruction operations is critical to national security. The authors recommend building civilian rather than military capacity, realigning and reforming existing agencies, and funding promising programs. They also suggest improvements to deployable police capacity, crisis-management processes, and guidance and funding.
5.
Charter Schools in Eight States: Effects on Achievement, Attainment, Integration, and Competition
Charter schools now exist in 40 states, but the best charter-school studies to date have focused on individual states. This book examines charter schools in eight states with varied policy contexts. It assesses the characteristics of charter schools' students, their effectiveness in raising student achievement and promoting graduation and college entry, and their competitive effects on student achievement in traditional public schools.
6.
Russian Foreign Policy: Sources and Implications
As Russia's economy has grown, so have the country's global involvement and influence, which often take forms that the United States neither expects nor likes. The authors assess Russia's strategic interests and goals, examining the country's domestic policies, economic development, security goals, and worldview. They assess implications for U.S. interests and present ways that Washington could work to improve its relations with Moscow.
7.
Saudi-Iranian Relations Since the Fall of Saddam: Rivalry, Cooperation, and Implications for U.S. Policy
This book surveys how Saudi-Iranian relations have unfolded in the Persian Gulf, Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine since 2003, identifying the sources of rivalry and cooperation between the two powers. Understanding and leveraging this relationship will be a critical part of U.S. efforts to promote stability after the drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq and to manage the regional impact of Iran's nuclear ambitions.
8.
The Challenge of Domestic Intelligence in a Free Society: A Multidisciplinary Look at the Creation of a U.S. Domestic Counterterrorism Intelligence Agency
Whether U.S. terrorism-prevention efforts match the threat continues to be central in policy debate. Part of this debate is whether the United States needs a dedicated domestic counterterrorism intelligence agency. This book examines such an agency's possible capability, comparing its potential effectiveness with that of current efforts, and its acceptability to the public, as well as various balances and trade-offs involved.
9.
Revitalizing Arts Education Through Community-Wide Coordination
Initiatives to coordinate schools, cultural institutions, community-based organizations, foundations, and/or government agencies to promote access to arts education in and outside of schools have recently developed. This study looks at the collaboration efforts of six urban communities: how they started and evolved, the kinds of organizations involved, conditions that helped and that hindered coordination, and strategies used.
10.
Top