Ending the U.S. war in Iraq required redeploying 100,000 military and civilian personnel; handing off responsibility for 431 activities to the Iraqi government, U.S. embassy, USCENTCOM, or other U.S. government entities; and moving or transferring ownership of over a million pieces of property in accordance with U.S. and Iraqi laws, national policy, and DoD requirements. This book examines the planning and execution of this transition.

For decades, the two-state solution has dominated efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Growing doubts about the viability of the two-state solution raise the question of which, if any, possible alternatives could succeed, if appropriately supported by the international community. RAND researchers conducted 33 focus groups in the region to gather qualitative and quantitative data on the viability of five alternatives: the status quo, the two-state solution, a confederation, annexation, and a one-state solution. The focus groups, conducted in July 2018 and May 2019, collected detailed opinions of more than 270 individuals, including West Bank Palestinians, Gazan Palestinians, Israeli Jews, and Israeli Arabs. These data provide a novel means of investigating whether there are any areas of overlap between Palestinians and Israelis that might form the basis for renewed dialogue. None of the alternatives was acceptable to a majority of both Israelis and Palestinians. The two-state solution was the most politically viable alternative, although all four populations voiced skepticism toward it. The status quo was preferred by Israeli Jews but strongly disliked by Palestinians. West Bank Palestinians' preferred alternative was the two-state solution, while Gazans ranked a one-state solution slightly above the two-state solution. The data highlight the deep distrust and profound animosity of each side for the other. It is hard to imagine a departure from present trends and where they might lead unless and until strong, courageous leadership among Israelis, Palestinians, and the international community articulates a desire for a better future for all.

Every president needs a decisionmaking system that harnesses the full capabilities and accumulated wisdom of the U.S. government and the nation’s many stakeholders. This Perspective analyzes a range of management challenges in the national security system and presents recommendations for strengthening U.S. decisionmaking and oversight of policy implementation.

This study examines how policies to increase energy efficiency in buildings in the European Union and Australia have worked and draws implications for the design of similar public policies for the United States. It appears that effective policies to promote energy efficiency can be devised using information disclosure, building codes, financial incentives, and benchmarking. Insights are presented to help designers of analogous U.S. policies.

This report examines the use of the Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP) in Afghanistan. It explores the effectiveness of CERP in supporting tactical operations in Afghanistan during the counterinsurgency-focused 2010-2013 time frame using both qualitative and quantitative methods and describes CERP's origins, history, and existing research on the effectiveness of CERP in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"They're complex, these things we build our hearts around." Times change. People change. Places change. The good and the bad comes and goes. We move in circles; we move in lines; we move in slow motion. The more things change, the more they remain the same. But one thing remains constant through all of time and place: Love. This book is a meditation on the ebb and flow of love in these changing times. The screw-ups, suck-ups, epiphanies, black holes, celestial awakenings, and confusions of the thing considered mystical to some, and impossible to others. Told from the perspective of a middle-aged lover-in-training, these poems have all the joy, all the pain, and all the wonder, but resonate through eyes that have traveled a few miles down that sometimes-lonesome highway of romance. A book of meaning, wonder, laughter, and tears that women will adore... but don't be fooled, men, because you'll root for it, too! While the women are smiling in romantic bliss, you men will be wondering where this "guidebook" has been all your lives. Romance is not dead! Knuckleheads still abound! Love, sweet love is still the kindest medicine of them all. It takes an experienced traveler to understand what to make of love. Charles P. Ries is guide, guru, therapist, participant, and equal-opportunity opportunist, as well as the blind leading the lost. Yet, through it all, his true north remains love, and his destination remains this singular realization of what it is to be fully alive and human. ~~~~~~~~~ Sample: ~~~~~~~~~ Influences of Light It happens each early summer. She backs off her anti-depressants, thinking more UV rays can substitute for her drugs. She comes out swinging, determined to reclaim what is rightfully hers. For a day or a week, she's a warrior but quickly fades into a humble, tumble, pile of bewilderment. (It's hard to sustain determination on just sunlight. Warmth alone isn't enough to help you think straight.) Following her short freedom flight, she becomes earthbound, a cloud that hovers low against a county trunk road- a vaporous curtain that flattens and abducts you. But you drive on, and eventually pass through it, through her. And bring her to a small hill where you ask her to look a great distance and remember tomorrow or yesterday or her true nature with the ease of her winter-fresh mind. ~~~~~~~~~ Readers say: ~~~~~~~~~ "In this book, Ries successfully turns trope into transcendence. As he debunks the mythology of Cupid with deft humor and insight, Ries simultaneously invokes the nine muses, morphing himself into a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac, an inimitable inamorato brimming with Bodhisattva wit and Casanova charm. Forget all you know about Venus and Mars! Here, you'll find eros, phileo, and agape kindled in brilliant coalescence, ready for the reverential caress of your mind's naked eye. Make no mistake, these are poems you'll want to know by heart." -Charles Nevsimal, Editor/Publisher at Centennial Press "Ries' poems reveal a certain vulnerability as he reflects on his relationships. These poems are written beautifully and have such a unique and quiet voice to them. His search to have the mystery of love answered, is answered. This book is meaningful, sad, witty, intimate, delicate, and extraordinarily good. These poems read like little elegies full of heart. An honesty we all crave." -Gloria Mindock, Editor/Publisher at Cervena Barva Press ~~~~~~~~~ More: ~~~~~~~~~ Thank you for taking a chance on Alternating Current. All of our authors receive royalties, and your purchase supports this author directly. To learn more, visit our website: alternatingcurrentarts.blogspot.com. If you liked this book, please also check out Ries' book, The Fathers We Find: amzn.com/B00854K2M4.

Set amidst the farm fields and rolling hills of Southeastern Wisconsin, THE FATHERS WE FIND is a coming-of-age story that takes place between 1950 and 1971. This novel based on memory, closely parallels the experiences of its author who grew up on a mink farm just outside of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Drowning in a sea of nuns, priests, and hard-working.