David Woodworth

In this report, RAND researchers examine the reasons behind Russia's evolution toward a unified strategic operation, as well as the capabilities that would be necessary to execute key conventional offensive tasks in such an operation. They focus on four capability areas: long-range conventional strikes against critical military and civilian targets, electronic warfare, counterspace actions, and cyberattacks against critical infrastructure.

To support defense planners in crafting effective deterrence strategies for Europe and the Middle East, RAND researchers conducted a multimethod analysis--consisting of a literature review, roundtables with subject-matter experts, quantitative analysis, and a case study of Ukraine--to assess the effectiveness of U. S. forward presence, exercises and short-term deployments, and security cooperation for deterring Russian and Iranian aggression.