The Muslim World after 9/11 Por
Momentous events since September 11, 2001-Operation Enduring Freedom, the global war on terrorism, and the war in Iraq-have dramatically altered the political environment of the Muslim world. Many of the forces influencing this environment, however, are the products of trends that have been at work for many decades. This book examines the major dynamics that drive changes in the religio-political landscape of the Muslim world-a vast and diverse region that stretches from Western Africa through the Middle East to the Southern Philippines and includes Muslim communities and diasporas throughout the world-and draws the implications of these trends for global security and U.S. and Western interests. It presents a typology of ideological tendencies in the different regions of the Muslim world and identifies the factors that produce religious extremism and violence. It assesses key cleavages along sectarian, ethnic, regional, and national lines and examines how those cleavages generate challenges and opportunities for the United States. Finally, the authors identify possible strategies and political and military options for the United States to pursue in response to changing conditions in this critical and volatile part of the world.
Building a Successful Palestinian State: Security Por
Throughout the history of Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, security has been the most important-and most challenging-issue for Palestinians, Israelis, and their neighbors. This study examines key external security issues that must be met for there to be a successful independent Palestinian state following a peace agreement with Israel. It makes proposals for an international (NATO-led) peace-enabling force, Palestinian security forces, and liaison and confidence-building cooperation between Palestine and Israel. This study also examines Palestinian policing, the nature of security arrangements along the Palestinian-Israeli border, counterterrorism efforts, intelligence functions, and broader Middle East security efforts.
Helping a Palestinian State Succeed: Key Findings Por
The United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations — along with Israel and the Palestinian Authority — all officially support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. This book summarizes research conducted by the RAND Corporation from September 2002 to September 2004 to develop recommendations, based on rigorous analysis, about steps that Palestinians, Israel, the United States, and the international community could take to promote the success of a new state if it is established. The first study identified the requirements for a successful Palestinian state. The study team surveyed a broad array of political, economic, social, resource, and environmental challenges that a new Palestinian state would face. They also estimated the investment required over the first ten years of statehood to help ensure security, build infrastructure, and facilitate the success of the new state. The second study explored options for addressing the housing, transportation, and related infrastructure needs of a burgeoning Palestinian population. The study explicitly considered issues related to potential immigration to a new Palestinian state of a substantial number of diaspora Palestinian refugees. The research team developed initial cost estimates for implementing their recommendations. The cost estimates developed in these studies suggest that the funding necessary to implement RAND’s recommendations is within the capacity of combined international resources and private investors. RAND’s analyses assume a peace accord, but many of the recommendations in both studies could be implemented constructively prior to Palestinian independence.
Afghanistan's Local War: Building Local Defense Forces Por
Security in Afghanistan has historically required a combination of top-down efforts from the central government and bottom-up efforts from local communities. Since 2001, U.S. and broader international efforts have focused on establishing security solely from the top down through Afghan national security forces and other central government institutions. But local security forces are a critical complement to these efforts, especially in rural areas of the country. The Afghan government and NATO forces need to move quickly to establish a more-effective bottom-up strategy to complement top-down efforts by better leveraging local communities. The Afghan government can work with existing community structures that oppose insurgents to establish village-level policing entities, such as arbakai and chalweshtai, with support from NATO. Effectively leveraging local communities should significantly improve counterinsurgency prospects and can facilitate mobilization of the population against insurgents. This analysis documents lessons about the viability of establishing local security in Afghanistan and addresses concerns about the wisdom of such policies.
Occupying Iraq: A History of the Coalition Provisional Authority Por
The American engagement in Iraq has been looked at from many perspectives — the flawed intelligence that provided the war's rationale, the failed effort to secure an international mandate, the rapid success of the invasion, and the long ensuing counterinsurgency campaign. This book focuses on the activities of the Coalition Provisional Authority and its administrator, L. Paul Bremer, who governed Iraq from May 2003 to June of the following year. It is based on interviews with many of those responsible for setting and implementing occupation policy, on the memoirs of American and Iraqi officials who have since left office, on journalists' accounts of the period, and on nearly 100,000 never-before-released CPA documents. The book recounts and evaluates the efforts of the United States and its coalition partners to restore public services, reform the judicial and penal systems, fight corruption, revitalize the economy, and create the basis for representative government. It also addresses the occupation's most striking failure: the inability of the United States and its coalition partners to protect the Iraqi people from the criminals and extremists in their midst.
Post-Secondary Education in Qatar: Employer Demand, Student Choice, and Options for Policy Por
The leadership of Qatar has a social and political vision that calls for improving the country’s post-secondary education system. Qatar’s Supreme Education Council asked RAND to conduct a one-year study to assess whether the current post-secondary education opportunities in Qatar are aligned with the nation’s social and economic goals, and to help articulate priorities for developing post-secondary educational opportunities, either in Qatar or through financed study abroad. The study determined that occupational demands are in the professional, technical, and sales and service occupations for men, and in the professional and clerical occupations for women. Overall, the pattern of demand favors individuals with some post-secondary education. However, education and career choices, especially for men, are somewhat misaligned with demand. There are numerous post-secondary offerings in Qatar to prepare Qataris for work in high-demand fields at the undergraduate level, but not for graduate studies. The study also identified other gaps in the provision of education, and developed several options for addressing them. The recommended investments for consideration are as follows: (1) to address the currently limited opportunities available to Qataris who need further course work before going on to university studies, consider establishing a government-sponsored community college; (2) to address the limited choices in four-year degrees available to high-achieving students beyond the degrees offered in Education City, consider recruiting a top liberal arts college or developing an honors program at Qatar University; and (3) to address the lack of master’s degrees being offered in fields essential to Qatar’s social and economic progress, consider expanding Education City’s offerings or restructuring Qatar University programs. The study also recommended that a financial-aid program for adults be started and that an overarching strategy of investment be developed for post-secondary education before any investments are made.
After Saddam: Prewar Planning and the Occupation of Iraq Por
This monograph begins by examining prewar planning efforts for postwar Iraq, in order to establish what U.S. policymakers expected the postwar situation to look like and what their plans were for reconstruction. The monograph then examines the role of U.S. military forces after major combat officially ended on May 1, 2003; the analysis covers this period through the end of June 2004. Finally, the monograph examines civilian efforts at reconstruction after major combat ended, focusing on the activities of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and its efforts to rebuild structures of governance, security forces, economic policy, and essential services prior to June 28, 2004, the day that the CPA dissolved and transferred authority to the Interim Iraqi Government. The authors conclude that the U.S. government was unprepared for the challenges of postwar Iraq for three reasons: a failure to challenge fundamental assumptions about postwar Iraq; ineffective interagency coordination; and the failure to assign responsibility and resources for providing security in the immediate aftermath of major combat operations.
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Aprobado por la Comisión Estatal de Elecciones y el número de radicación correspondiente