About NSRD

The RAND National Security Research Division (NSRD) is an international pacesetter in defense research and analysis. To help world leaders overcome seemingly intractable security challenges and manage complex defense institutions, NSRD builds multidisciplinary teams who bring to the table unique perspectives, extensive experience, and diverse skill sets. Our research is objective, fact-based, and data-driven. Everything we produce stands up to the highest level of scrutiny, is carefully peer-reviewed, is technically sound, and provides useful, viable solutions.

We support the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), as well as a number of non-DoD entities in the United States and abroad

NSRD operates the National Defense Research Institute (NDRI), a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) whose sponsors include the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the defense agencies, and the Department of the Navy. Three other RAND FFRDCs support the U.S. Air Force (Project AIR FORCE), the Department of Homeland Security (HSOAC), and the U.S. Army (the Arroyo Center).

NSRD's research and analysis also supports the governments of a number of U.S. allies and partners, a variety of foundations, and several non-DoD entities, including the U.S. intelligence community and the U.S. Department of State.

To cover the range of national security and defense issues faced by leaders around the globe, our research is divided into four topic-driven portfolios:

For more information about FFRDCs—in general and at RAND—see RAND FFRDCs.