Policy Currents | The newsletter for policy people
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** June 3, 2025
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Are you interested in learning the skills to conduct real-world policy research? Ready to fulfill your passion to help change the world for the better? Students at the RAND School of Public Policy get to do both. Full-time and part-time master's degree programs are available at our campuses in Santa Monica, CA, and Arlington, VA.
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Could Poland Become a Cornerstone of European Security?
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine pushed Poland to modernize and expand its military at a pace, scale, and direction that was unprecedented in the country's post-communist history. In a new report, RAND researchers assess these efforts and consider how U.S. support could help advance joint interests.
While many obstacles stand in the way of Poland's military plans, success would create a "xxxxxx of security facing Russia and Belarus," the study's authors write, allowing Poland to take a much larger role in securing NATO's eastern flank.
A strengthened Polish military would also advance U.S. interests regionally and globally. In Europe, Polish modernization would reinforce deterrence and collective defense. Globally, it would provide greater freedom of action for U.S. military forces elsewhere.
What role might the United States play in Poland's effort? Our researchers recommend several actions, including enhancing dialogue with Polish counterparts, identifying ways to accelerate Poland's purchase of U.S.-built weapon systems, and maintaining or temporarily strengthening the U.S. military posture in Poland.
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Who Could Fund Future AI Development?
Since 2018, AI developers have been creating foundational models, which are trained on large and diverse datasets and can be adapted to perform a wide variety of tasks. These models are improving rapidly, but they require exponentially increasing amounts of resources, including electricity and advanced computer chips. Such growth raises an important question: Who might pay for the large costs of developing and deploying increasingly powerful AI models? A new RAND paper explores different funding approaches.
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Lessons from the War in Ukraine for Space
From Starlink's role in enabling Ukrainian military operations to the use of commercial imagery to enhance battlefield awareness, the availability and denial of space-based services have shaped the war in Ukraine. In a new report, RAND researchers review these space activities and highlight lessons for how the United States can prepare for similar events in potential future conflicts.
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** RAND Recommends
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- Most clicked last week: a RAND study that breaks down the Chinese Communist Party's system of coded speech.
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- RAND's Naoko Aoki discusses South Korea's presidential election in The Independent.
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- RAND Europe researchers write about addressing barriers to effective care for heavy menstrual bleeding--one of the most common conditions affecting women.
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** Events
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Deep Seabed Mining: What Might Happen Next?
Monday, June 9, 2025 (Online)
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** Policy Minded, RAND's Flagship Podcast
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On Policy Minded, we pick the brains of the world's top policy experts. In each episode, RAND researchers join us for conversations that go beyond the headlines--bringing you insights you can't find anywhere else.
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