Policy Currents | The newsletter for policy people
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** April 8, 2025
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A Spatial Vision for Gaza and the West Bank
A new RAND report offers a big-picture infrastructure plan for Gaza and the West Bank. The plan focuses on real solutions that can gain support among Palestinians and Israelis alike.
The authors provide a "menu" of infrastructure options that can support ongoing negotiations about the future of the region. These include quick-win local projects that could begin immediately (even without a political solution to the conflict in place), as well as bold ideas for the long term. The study outlines roughly 200 projects across a wide range of sectors, such as governance, transportation, and water. Over time, these projects can build the essential infrastructure of a future Palestinian state that lives in peace and security with its neighbors.
Reaching a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires "a vision of a better future, where all people of the region can live in normalcy--with access to basic services, utilities, and quality infrastructure," says lead author Shelly Culbertson. "This is achievable with political will, good-faith negotiations, strategic planning, and international support."
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** More on the Middle East **
Today's new study is part of a suite of RAND research that provides pragmatic ideas for those seeking to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and bring stability to the region. Another report published earlier this year focuses on pathways to a durable Israeli-Palestinian peace, and a study from March outlines a new approach to post-conflict shelter in Gaza.
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Using LLMs to Detect Foreign Propaganda
Foreign actors conduct information operations to undermine U.S. strategic interests and national security. A new RAND study considers how large language models, or LLMs, might help detect and analyze overseas operations that target foreign audiences. The authors find that LLMs can already be used to identify propaganda, disinformation, and misinformation with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Further refining these tools could enhance Washington's ability to protect against threats posed by foreign adversaries' information operations.
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A New Agenda for School Safety Research
America's schools face complex safety problems--from student fights and cyberbullying to less-frequent but higher-profile incidents of serious violence. A new RAND paper summarizes these challenges and outlines future directions that could help improve K-12 school safety. These areas include examining the costs and benefits of school security, understanding the impacts of AI and other new technologies, and assessing how frequent active-shooter drills may affect students in the long term.
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** RAND Recommends
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- Most clicked last week: a new RAND paper on Hezbollah's evolving presence in Latin America.
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- Speaking on the Ben Shapiro Show, author and New York Times journalist Ezra Klein highlighted findings from a new RAND report on the high cost of producing housing in California.
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- Our graduate school is now the RAND School of Public Policy. The name change highlights the school's strong connection to RAND and its focus on providing advanced education in policy analysis with a rigorous, unbiased approach.
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** Events
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Innovations in Veteran Suicide Prevention
Thursday, April 17, 2025 (Online)
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Town Hall on RAND's Survey of State Maternal Health Initiatives
Thursday, April 17, 2025 (Online)
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Policy Lab: Mapping the Use of High-Quality Instructional Materials
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 (Online)
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