Cheryl Bernard

RAND researchers analyzed the health components of seven post-World War II nation-building efforts conducted after major conflicts-Germany, Japan, Somalia, Haiti, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq-and found that two factors are correlated with successful health outcomes: planning and coordination, and infrastructure and resources.

This report finds parallels in U.S. prisoner and detainee operations in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq: underestimation of the number to be held, hasty scrambling for resources, and inadequate doctrine and policy. Later, attempts to educate and influence prisoners and detainees are often made. The authors recommend that detailed doctrine should be in place prior to detention and that detainees should be surveyed when first detained.