Sarah Harting

RAND conducted two cybersecurity-focused discovery games in Washington, D.C., and California s Silicon Valley that aimed to capture the widest possible range of perspectives. The goals were to explore opportunities for improving cybersecurity, assess the implications of possible solutions, and develop an initial framework to support debate and inform decisions regarding cybersecurity policies and practices."

The authors identified disputes among roles, missions, and functions (RMF) that have endured as problems for the U.S. Air Force, factors associated with major RMF changes, and reasons why reform efforts failed. In crafting a framework for analyzing the RMF implications of strategic-level guidance and emerging operational concepts, the authors considered how future leadership choices will influence relative attractiveness of RMF courses of action.

A competition for digital infrastructure (DI) is underway between the United States and China, which has implications for military forces and operations that rely on this infrastructure in competition and conflict. This report summarizes an alternative futures analysis of how the global DI could evolve out to 2050 and the military implications of those futures for the United States and China.

The unclassified networks of defense industrial base firms have become an attractive entrance for adversaries seeking access to cutting-edge technologies and research and development efforts. This report describes a way for the U.S. Department of Defense to better secure such networks through the establishment of a cybersecurity program designed to strengthen their protections.

Current unmanned systems (UxSs) use different communication systems and have limited autonomy, which limit their ability to share information they collect with warfighters and other UxSs operating in the same area. UxSs may also face survivability and mission effectiveness challenges when they operate in contested environments. This report identifies an architectural approach that can improve system interoperability and autonomy.

The report presents the results of two studies: The first compares the capabilities and development approaches used in the Joint Tactical Radio System wideband networking waveform and the commercial long-term evolution waveform, and the second analyzes military acquisition programs that have exceeded certain cost thresholds more than once.

The Department of Defense (DoD) has developed new sensor technologies to support U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan; these technologies are potentially useful for counterdrug operations along the southern U.S. border, but there are legal questions regarding how they may be used and how sensor information may be shared between federal agencies in domestic operations. This report examines federal law and DoD policy to answer these questions.

NATO's success in Afghanistan--or lack thereof--will have significant implications for the alliance itself. The authors examine current mission in light of NATO's history and with an eye toward the future. NATO faces a long and daunting list of issues that extends beyond the borders of the member countries. The alliance must confront them, however, because failure to do so would risk its long-term success and sustainability.

On December 4, 2007, leading practitioners and analysts in the U.S. Defense community conferred on possible approaches to meeting America¹s future security challenges. Many noted that these challenges, coupled with demands on the military forces, will require significant changes in how the Department of Defense trains, equips, and postures its forces and in how the U.S. government is organized for the advancement of U.S. interests abroad.