Evaluating the Impact of the Department of Defense Regional Centers for Security Studies

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Defense s (DoD s) five Regional Centers for Security Studies are relatively small-scale but highly valued U.S. security engagement tools. Though virtually all U.S. officials who interact with the centers assert that they are key to advancing DoD goals and objectives, neither the centers nor their stakeholders have been able to measure the extent to which they do so. As DoD looks to identify inefficiencies and accommodate reduced budget authority, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the regional centers themselves expressed interest in developing more effective means of assessing the regional centers impact on DoD objectives and priorities. In response to a request by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Partnership Strategy and Stability Operations, RAND undertook a comprehensive study of the centers missions and objectives, the contributions that the centers assert that they make to DoD goals, and the ways in which the centers and their stakeholders assess their programs and the resulting outcomes. This report recommends steps that the centers and their stakeholders can take to collect more relevant data for evaluation, improve their evaluations of center initiatives, and better assess the centers impacts on strategic objectives. This report will be of interest to policymakers and military leaders grappling with questions regarding the most effective use of increasingly scarce DoD resources for promoting U.S. security objectives around the world, particularly by fostering strong military-to-military ties with partner nations. It will also be of interest to policymakers and military personnel with an interest in security cooperation, military education and training, and the implementation of confidence-building measures to mitigate regional security tensions.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2014
Accession Number
ADA599564

Entities

People

  • Chaoling Feng
  • Christopher J. Springer
  • Larry Hanauer
  • Michael J. Mcnerney
  • Shira Efron
  • Stephanie Pezard
  • Stuart E. Johnson

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Cyber
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Business Administration
  • Climate Change
  • Combatant Commanders
  • Data Analysis
  • Employment
  • Geographic Regions
  • Governments
  • International Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Social Media
  • Students
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Strategic Security Studies