Yousuf Abdelfatah

RAND Corporation researchers developed an approach for analyzing social media data to derive insights about chemical incidents and conducted a proof of concept of that approach by applying it to the case of chemical weapons use in Syria (2017?2018). The procedure, a four-step process, showed promise. They recommend that the Defense Threat Reduction Agency initiate three activities to further the development of the procedure.

Given new and increasingly sophisticated threats from peer and near-peer adversaries, the authors provide an analysis of intelligence support to the U.S. Air Force acquisition community, identifying disincentives to seeking threat-informed analysis and proposing ways to enhance information sharing and workforce development to improve the integration of intelligence and acquisition.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Directorate of Intelligence sought RAND Corporation assistance in developing a repeatable process to measure the effectiveness of its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations to evaluate current performance and plan for, influence, and resource future operations. The authors identified measures of effectiveness and of performance to gauge the value and success of ISR support and requirements.