Read the Latest from RAND Review

The cover story explores the causes of civilian harm in Raqqa, Syria, and provides insights into how the U.S. Department of Defense can reduce civilian casualties in current and future operations. Other features examine the enduring legacy of redlining on urban environments and the economic value to the UK of improving languages education in schools. In a Q&A, senior policy researcher Dara Massicot discusses Russia's ambitions. Read more »

FEATURES FROM THE RAND REVIEW BLOG

Residents of Raqqa gather in the morning to drink tea after they had been allowed back to inspect their homes

Photo by Aboud Hamam

Civilian Casualties: Lessons from the Battle for Raqqa

The United States' emphasis on minimizing civilian harm in Raqqa, Syria, was quite clear and strong up and down the chain of command. But the way in which the U.S. military waged war in Raqqa too often undercut that commitment. The Pentagon asked RAND to find out what happened. Read more »

An aerial view of a neighborhood rendered by Google Earth

Image by Google Earth

Environmental Racism: How Historic Redlining Continues to Affect Communities

Starting in the 1930s, neighborhoods across America were redlined—marked on government maps as too hazardous, as in, too Black or too immigrant, for federal home loans. When zoning officials needed somewhere to put a new factory or freeway, those redlined neighborhoods were like a bullseye that they hit again and again. Read more »

A student listens through headphones to an exercise in a Spanish class in Steveange, UK

Photo by Ian Miles/Flashpoint Pictures/Alamy

The Economic Returns of Foreign Language Learning

If just 10 percent more students in the United Kingdom mastered Arabic, Mandarin, French, or Spanish, the economic returns could be measured in billions of British pounds. Removing the language barrier reduces trade costs. Read more »

Russian weapons captured by Ukrainian forces seen in front of St. Michael's Monastery in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 31, 2022

Photo by Ulf Mauder/Picture-Alliance/DPA/AP

Russia's Ambitions and the War in Ukraine: Q&A with Dara Massicot

Dara Massicot is a senior policy researcher at RAND who specializes in Russian military strategy. In this interview, she discusses Russia's war in Ukraine, its incorrect assumptions about Ukraine's will to fight, and how hard it's going to be for Russia to restore its military capabilities. Read more »

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis.