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Chinese Information Shaping in Myanmar

/analyses/2020/09/chinese-information-shaping-in-myanmar

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has embarked on a campaign to shape what audiences around the world read, hear, and watch about China. This report is part of a series that assesses Beijing’s efforts to influence the media environment in the neighboring Mekong countries—Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. This report focuses on China’s efforts to shape the information environment of its neighbor, Myanmar. To place China’s efforts into context, this report begins with an overview of Myanmar's information environment—the aggregate of key individuals, organizations, and systems that help shape opinion by disseminating news and information. Next, the report identifies key narratives that China is promoting to audiences in Myanmar and examines each of the tactics, tools, and techniques that it is employing to do so. The report concludes with a discussion of observations regarding the effect of China’s efforts and issues to watch as the Myanmar information environment—and China’s footprint there—evolves.

/centers-and-divisions/cna/rsp/china-studies Distribution: Approved for public release. Unlimited distribution. 96 IIM-2020-U-026098-Final

Chinese Information Shaping in Laos

/analyses/2020/09/chinese-information-shaping-in-laos

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has embarked on a campaign to shape what audiences around the world read, hear, and watch about China. This report is part of a series that examines Beijing’s efforts to influence the media environment in the neighboring Mekong countries—Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. This report focuses on China’s efforts to shape the information environment of its neighbor, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (or Laos). In order to place China’s efforts into context, this report begins by providing an overview of Laos’ information environment—the aggregate of individuals, organizations, and systems that play a key role in shaping opinions through the dissemination of news and information. Next, we examine each of the ways that China is shaping the information environment in Laos in order to promote its preferred narratives. The report concludes with a brief discussion of issues to consider as the Laos information environment—and China’s footprint there—evolves.

Heidi Holz /reports/2020/09/IIM-2020-U-024777-Final.pdf /reports/2020/09/IIM-2020-U-024777-Final.PNG /reports/2020/09/laos.PNG China Studies /centers-and-divisions/cna/rsp/china-studies Distribution

Why Special Operations

/analyses/2020/09/why-special-operations

There is today a burgeoning discussion in the literature as to what really constitutes a “special operation,” what makes the forces that conduct them “special,” whether these aspects are so different from conventional military operations and forces as to warrant their own theory, and, if they do, what such a theory should be. This paper addresses an aspect of special operations that has yet to be explained adequately—the question of why special operations are conducted. The answer lies in the consideration of risk. Because policy-makers are inherently reliant upon some form of popular support to maintain their positions of power, they are also inherently averse to taking risky actions. The centrality of risk to policy decisions leads directly to this definition: special operations are unorthodox military solutions to difficult policy problems that lower the level of risk to policy-makers. This definition leads to a risk-centric theory of why special operations are conducted: if policy-makers have a difficult policy problem and they are unsatisfied with the level of risk presented by orthodox solutions or inaction, then they will choose special operations. After deriving this theory, this paper evaluates it, applies it to the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, and discusses implications of the theory for the future of US special operations forces.

Schroden /reports/2020/09/COP-2020-U-028160-Final.pdf /reports/2020/09/COP-2020-U-028160-Final.png /reports/2020/09/Why%20SpecOps.png Countering Threats and Challenges /centers-and-divisions/cna/rsp

Philadelphia PD Response to Civil Unrest

/analyses/2020/12/philadelphia-pd-response-to-civil-unrest

This after-action report provides an independent review of the Philadelphia Police Department’s (PPD) response to the mass demonstrations and civil unrest that occurred in the city from May 30 – June 15, 2020. While the findings contained in the report speak to this specific timeframe, the review team acknowledges that the response in Philadelphia (also referred to as “the City”) was not unlike the law enforcement response to similar events that occurred both nationally and globally. We provide this preface as a means to better understand the Philadelphia response within a national context, and also to provide a summary of key reforms initiated by the city and PPD since the start of our review in July 2020. These reforms represent the commitment of the City’s leadership and the PPD to initiate, implement and sustain organizational reform efforts concerning the management of First Amendment demonstrations, police use of force, and other resources needed to better prepare officers to meet their public safety mission.

of Philadelphia contracted CNA (a nationally recognized, well-established, non-profit research organization with extensive experience in police assessments) along with Montgomery McCracken Walker

Telling Chinas COVID19 Story

/analyses/2020/12/telling-chinas-covid19-story

As the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has striven to shape the domestic and international public narratives around the crisis. Chief among its arguments are that China rose to the challenge of the outbreak and has exemplified the role of a responsible great power. At the same time, it has attempted to deflect blame for the initial outbreak by engaging in an unprecedented disinformation campaign aimed at sowing doubt over the origin of the virus. This report reconstructs the evolution of these narratives and their supporting themes, as well as the wide range of tools and tactics that Beijing has used to influence public opinion—to include diverse public messaging platforms, foreign aid efforts, and suppression of domestic dissidents. The report also examines how Beijing has attempted to use the crisis to degrade international trust in Washington by using the US response to the pandemic as a foil against which to highlight its own successes.

/DRM-2020-U-028558-Final.pdf /reports/2020/12/DRM-2020-U-028558-Final.png /reports/2020/12/TellingChinasCovid19.png China Studies /centers-and-divisions/cna/rsp/china-studies DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT

Beyond Belt and Road

/analyses/2019/02/beyond-belt-and-road

Over the past decade, China’s presence in the Middle East and Indian Ocean has expanded significantly across a wide range of domains, including military, diplomatic, economic, and even informational.

/reports/2019/02/OBORCoverArt_V3.jpg China Studies /centers-and-divisions/cna/rsp/china-studies DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release: distribution unlimited. 180 DRM-2018-U-018309-Final2

Nuclear Arms Control Without a Treaty

/analyses/2019/03/nuclear-arms-control-without-a-treaty

The United States must prepare to compete with Russia without a treaty that verifiably constrains intercontinental range nuclear weapons. This coming challenge stems from three changes in US-Russian relations.Recognizing these changing conditions, the report explores risks, uncertainties, and US policy options for a world in which there is significant competition between Washington and Moscow, but no bilateral strategic nuclear arms control treaty.

Russia Studies /centers-and-divisions/cna/rsp/russia-studies Distribution unlimited. Specific authority contracting number: G-18-55729. Request additional copies of this document through inquiries@cna.org

Single Salary Practices

/analyses/2019/03/single-salary-practices

The 13th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC) is considering whether the U.S. military should move from its current regular military compensation (RMC) structure to a single-salary system (SSS) that would eliminate the basic allowances for housing (BAH) and subsistence (BAS) and increase basic pay. To inform this potential policy change, this study provides information about: the potential advantages and disadvantages to the U.S. military of moving to an SSS; potential design features of an SSS to meet key objectives; and, important implementation challenges that the Department of Defense (DOD) may face if it goes forward with a military SSS. To provide insight into these issues, we conducted a literature review on the compensation preferences of servicemembers and civilians, a review of U.S. civilian-sector compensation practices based on a literature review and subject-matter expert (SME) discussions, and a review of foreign military compensation practices based on discussions with foreign military compensation experts and a review of policy documents.

Kyle Neering /reports/2020/12/DRM-2019-U-019421-Final.pdf /reports/2020/12/DRM-2019-U-019421-Final.PNG /reports/2020/12/pointing.PNG Marine Corps and Defense Workforce Program /centers-and-divisions/cna

Organizational Troop to Task Wargames

/analyses/2019/03/organizational-troop-to-task-wargames

Organizational Troop-to-Task (OT3) resource-management wargames allow players to assign personnel under their command to meet the tasking of a higher headquarters throughout the narrative storyline of the wargame. We outline the rules and requirements to assemble and execute an OT3 wargame and provide a simplified “print-and-play” example. We discuss the data that can be collected, as well as what can be gleamed from that data—namely, (1) as an assessment of whether the organizational staff is “right-sized” for the given narrative storyline and its explicit or implied tasking; (2) an assessment of the gaps and seams of the organization, exploring where the organizational design may impede required information flow; and (3) a broad understanding of how an organization might respond to a given sequence of events. This document does not assess any particular organization. It provides the framework and toolkit for future organizational assessments.

stage of the narrative of events is then presented to the players and the process repeats. Throughout this process, CNA data analysts are collecting data on the commander’s intent as derived from

Gender Differences Among DON Personnel

/analyses/2019/04/gender-differences-among-don-personnel

This report documents an analysis of gender differences in misbehavior rates among enlisted personnel in the Department of the Navy (DON). Using indicators found in personnel data from the US Marine Corps (USMC) and the US Navy (USN), we show that, between fiscal year (FY) 1999 and FY 2015, male misbehavior rates were higher than female rates for every indicator, in every year for both services. Using data from FY 2015, we estimate that higher male misbehavior rates in the USMC (USN) resulted in about 1,400 (2,000) extra incidents of misbehavior and imposed about $57 ($197) million in extra costs. Based on these results, we conclude that excluding costs associated with higher rates of male misbehavior renders cost-benefit analyses of increasing gender integration incomplete. In addition, we recommend that the DON improve cost estimates of misbehavior to allocate resources toward prevention and response as effectively and efficiently as possible.

of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller) (ASN(FM&C)) asked CNA to examine the costs and benefits associated with greater gender integration and to assess the potential impact on DON personnel