The RAND Forecasting Initiative (RFI) has launched a new series of questions on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), focusing on regional power balances and their implications for economic security in the region. 

A new question series on RFI assesses future virology talent and biotech funding levels that could shape global pandemic preparedness and biosecurity risk.

The RAND Forecasting Initiative (RFI) has released a new forecasting topic to examine the policy and security implications of “mirror life,” an emerging area of biotechnology that has prompted both scientific interest and calls for caution.

RFI has selected six Pro Forecasters as RFI Adjuncts within RAND's Defense and Political Science Department. As adjuncts, this team of experienced forecasters will be collaborating with researchers across RAND to build up the organization's internal forecasting capabilities.

RFI is seeking forecasts that explore emerging capabilities in biotechnology and the biomedical sciences, helping to gauge the probability that critical scientific and regulatory breakthroughs might prove feasible over the next decade. RAND technology and security policy (TASP) fellow, Jordan Despanie discusses how crowdsourced forecasting will inform this research effort.

The RFI Team is collaborating with RAND researchers to investigate China's semiconductor industry, focusing on lithography technologies. This effort aims to explore how U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductor technologies are shaping China's strategy in the global AI leadership race.

Learn how a collaboration with RFI and RAND's Information Warfare Research Team will provide predictive insights around the influence of Russian disinformation in Europe, with a particular focus on Russian propaganda in the 2025 elections in Germany. 

Q&A with Marie Jones, co-director of the RAND Forecasting Initiative (RFI). Learn how new forecast questions on Africa contribute towards research on key under-examined security issues impacting Africa and African diaspora countries.

A new blog post from RAND highlights how their researchers are using crowdsourced forecasting to augment traditional RAND expertise and analysis in their assessment of the potential that Israel may declare war on Hezbollah.