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America First Policy Institute Issues Commentary to Washington Examiner: Veterans Kept Their Promise. Our Votes Make Sure America Keeps Its Own
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following excerpts of a commentary on Nov. 11, 2026, to Washington Examiner:
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Veterans kept their promise. Our votes make sure America keeps its own
Americans should treat Veterans Day as more than a holiday of parades and posts. It is a moment to renew the promise we made to the men and women who raised their right hand and for the country to ask what it owes them in return.
That starts with healthcare. Veterans deserve timely access to VA healthcare, fast and accurate decisions on disability claims, and mental health
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following excerpts of a commentary on Nov. 11, 2026, to Washington Examiner:
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Veterans kept their promise. Our votes make sure America keeps its own
Americans should treat Veterans Day as more than a holiday of parades and posts. It is a moment to renew the promise we made to the men and women who raised their right hand and for the country to ask what it owes them in return.
That starts with healthcare. Veterans deserve timely access to VA healthcare, fast and accurate decisions on disability claims, and mental healthresources that actually reach the people who need them. The stakes are not abstract. The Department of Veterans Affairs's latest annual report found 6,488 veteran suicides in 2024, an average of 17.7 every single day. And 62% of those veterans were not receiving VA care in the year they died or the year before. Every leader who claims to honor veterans should be able to explain how they will close that gap and how they will support the military families and caregivers who carry so much of this weight at home.
To read the full article, click here (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4799053/veterans-day-honor-promise-va-healthcare-accountability/).
Originally published by Washington Examiner (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4799053/veterans-day-honor-promise-va-healthcare-accountability/)
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Amber Smith, AFPI Senior Advisor for America First Warfighters.
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Original text here: https://americafirstpolicy.com/issues/veterans-kept-their-promise-our-votes-make-sure-america-keeps-its-own/
[Category: ThinkTank]
Rand Report: Towards a New Framework for Nuclear Deterrence in Europe
SANTA MONICA, California, Nov. 11 (TNSLrpt) -- Rand Report issued the following report on October 22, 2026, entitled "Towards a new framework for nuclear deterrence in Europe."
Here are excerpts:
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Amid renewed Russian belligerence and a pattern of nuclear threats, and against the backdrop of transatlantic burden-shifting between the United States and European NATO Allies, the UK and France--as Europe's two nuclear powers--have an opportunity to shape the future framework of nuclear deterrence in Europe.
This study seeks to inform that effort by mapping how non-nuclear European NATO Allies
... Show Full Article
SANTA MONICA, California, Nov. 11 (TNSLrpt) -- Rand Report issued the following report on October 22, 2026, entitled "Towards a new framework for nuclear deterrence in Europe."
Here are excerpts:
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Amid renewed Russian belligerence and a pattern of nuclear threats, and against the backdrop of transatlantic burden-shifting between the United States and European NATO Allies, the UK and France--as Europe's two nuclear powers--have an opportunity to shape the future framework of nuclear deterrence in Europe.
This study seeks to inform that effort by mapping how non-nuclear European NATO Alliesperceive the following:
1. Russia's evolving nuclear policy, through an analysis of the revised 'Fundamentals of State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Area of Nuclear Deterrence,' issued in November 2024.
2. The role of the UK and French nuclear deterrents within NATO's current nuclear posture.
The research team employed a qualitative multi-method approach, combining a literature review, scenario development and scenario-based research interviews with 18 European non-governmental researchers and think tankers from 10 European NATO Allies to explore perceptions of the two themes outlined above. Using hypothetical crisis scenarios, the study also examines future dilemmas about NATO's nuclear posture and the UK and French roles therein.
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View the full report here: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA3900/RRA3964-1/RAND_RRA3964-1.pdf
[Category: ThinkTank]
Rand Report: Improving HUD-VASH Utilization Under Changing Income Eligibility Requirements
SANTA MONICA, California, Nov. 11 (TNSLrpt) -- Rand Report issued the following report on October 27, 2026, entitled "Improving HUD-VASH Utilization Under Changing Income Eligibility Requirements."
Here are excerpts:
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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) established the Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program in 1992. Since 2008, HUD has issued more than 118,000 vouchers to public housing agencies (PHAs). HUD-VASH is widely credited with helping cut veteran homelessness roughly in half--from
... Show Full Article
SANTA MONICA, California, Nov. 11 (TNSLrpt) -- Rand Report issued the following report on October 27, 2026, entitled "Improving HUD-VASH Utilization Under Changing Income Eligibility Requirements."
Here are excerpts:
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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) established the Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program in 1992. Since 2008, HUD has issued more than 118,000 vouchers to public housing agencies (PHAs). HUD-VASH is widely credited with helping cut veteran homelessness roughly in half--from73,367 veterans in 2009 to 32,495 veterans in 2025.
Policy changes in 2021 and 2024 aimed to expand program access by raising income thresholds and excluding Veterans Affairs disability compensation (VADC) from eligibility calculations. RAND researchers examine whether those changes improved voucher utilization.
Key Takeaways
Expanding eligibility didn't increase voucher use.
Most veterans referred to HUD-VASH have little or no income, so raising the income threshold had minimal practical effect on who could access the program.
Many PHAs had already adapted before the 2024 rule change.
Large PHAs had mostly adopted the higher income threshold after the 2021 guidance, limiting the operational impact of the formal 2024 policy revision.
Veterans with VADC may still get little help.
Even veterans who qualify under the new rules may receive minimal housing subsidies, because their VADC counts toward rent calculations--creating frustration for both program applicants and staff.
Rising rents constrain utilization more than eligibility rules do.
Higher fair market rents (FMRs) are consistently associated with lower HUD-VASH voucher utilization rates, and subsidies often lag behind prices in competitive rental markets.
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View the full report here: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA4400/RRA4405-7/RAND_RRA4405-7.pdf
[Category: ThinkTank]
Rand Report: American Mathematics Educator Survey
SANTA MONICA, California, Nov. 11 (TNSLrpt) -- Rand Report issued the following report on October 21, 2026, entitled "American Mathematics Educator Survey."
Here are excerpts:
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This report presents information about the sample, survey instruments, and data for the 2026 American Mathematics Educator Study (AMES) surveys. The 2026 AMES surveys investigate students' access to high-quality mathematics learning opportunities, as well as career pathways in high school and the obstacles that stand in the way of providing these opportunities to all students, particularly Black, Hispanic, and low-income
... Show Full Article
SANTA MONICA, California, Nov. 11 (TNSLrpt) -- Rand Report issued the following report on October 21, 2026, entitled "American Mathematics Educator Survey."
Here are excerpts:
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This report presents information about the sample, survey instruments, and data for the 2026 American Mathematics Educator Study (AMES) surveys. The 2026 AMES surveys investigate students' access to high-quality mathematics learning opportunities, as well as career pathways in high school and the obstacles that stand in the way of providing these opportunities to all students, particularly Black, Hispanic, and low-incomestudents.
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View the full report here: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA4400/RRA4411-6/RAND_RRA4411-6.pdf
[Category: ThinkTank]
Hudson Institute Issues Commentary: 'Endless Wars' Is a Catchy Phrase, Not a Reason to Shift Policy
WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 -- Hudson Institute, a research organization that says it promotes leadership for a secure, free and prosperous future, issued the following commentary to the Washington Post:
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Nov 10, 2026
Washington Post
"Endless Wars" Is a Catchy Phrase, Not a Reason to Shift Policy
What counts is not the length of the conflict, but the worthiness of the goals.
Douglas J. Feith & Lewis Libby
In recent years, Americans have heard a string of top political figures declare that we should not fight "endless wars." The phrase has punch. Shunning such wars sounds like common sense.
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 -- Hudson Institute, a research organization that says it promotes leadership for a secure, free and prosperous future, issued the following commentary to the Washington Post:
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Nov 10, 2026
Washington Post
"Endless Wars" Is a Catchy Phrase, Not a Reason to Shift Policy
What counts is not the length of the conflict, but the worthiness of the goals.
Douglas J. Feith & Lewis Libby
In recent years, Americans have heard a string of top political figures declare that we should not fight "endless wars." The phrase has punch. Shunning such wars sounds like common sense.But history often says otherwise.
Abraham Lincoln could not count on quick victory. The Civil War brought losses on a scale Americans had never experienced. Union generals repeatedly disappointed him. Political pressure mounted to end the bloodshed. Even Union battlefield success might have led to endless insurgencies in the South. Yet Lincoln understood that the bad consequences of folding -- disunion and slavery -- would outlast the war's appalling costs.
Winston Churchill faced a long, grim vista in 1940. Adolf Hitler's armies had overrun much of Europe. The Soviets still clung to their nonaggression pact with the Nazis, and the United States was not yet in the war. Britain stood virtually alone, without a schedule for victory or even the certainty of survival. Nevertheless, Churchill vowed Britain would fight for years, if necessary, even if its home islands were conquered. His persistence enabled eventual victory.
Although he could not win in Korea, President Dwight D. Eisenhower persisted until he secured a truce that U.S. troops still, more than 70 years later, have to guard. Decades of shaky peace have enabled South Korea to develop a democracy -- an outcome many once thought improbable. The results benefited Americans, making them more prosperous and secure.
When Ronald Reagan became president in 1981, the Cold War had already lasted more than three decades. The United States had fought costly wars in Korea and Vietnam, placed military forces in vulnerable spots around the world and lived under the constant nerve-racking danger of nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union.
Yet Reagan, rather than display weariness, explained to Americans the conflict's necessity and high purpose. He strengthened U.S. defenses, countered Soviet expansion and challenged Moscow's control over Eastern Europe. He negotiated to advance American interests, not to stage signing ceremonies. He brought the Cold War to a successful end.
None of these leaders wanted endless sacrifice and risks, but none buckled for fear of them. Each understood that an enemy's willingness to endure a long struggle does not make one's own "endless" resistance foolish.
If it did, that would only encourage our foes. When listening to democracies' fearful rhetoric about "endless war," they like what they hear and adapt their strategies accordingly.
The right question is neither whether a war can be ended quickly nor whether perseverance demonstrates national strength. It is whether achievable aims justify the costs and risks, whether a successful approach is available and whether continuing the fight is preferable to other options.
History teaches that how a war is fought matters enormously. So does how it ends. In 1991, American forces expelled Saddam Hussein's army from Kuwait, achieving their declared goal in weeks. Hussein remained in power, however, boasting that America feared him. President Bill Clinton's efforts to contain Hussein's persistent challenges dragged on, keeping the Arabian Peninsula inflamed, a condition exploited by Osama bin Laden. A short Persian Gulf War did not eliminate U.S. difficulties.
In launching the 9/11 attacks, bin Laden told supporters that the United States, having no stomach for a long, bloody fight, would retreat if hit. President George W. Bush could not promise a quick war; but, like Reagan, resolved to see a prolonged struggle through. Bush warned that preserving America's free and open society against terrorist organizations with global reach would be a costly "generational conflict."
Bush quickly removed Hussein in 2003, but then failed to quiet Iraq. Popular U.S. support for the war fell sharply until Bush adopted a better strategy -- a counterinsurgency "surge," which garnered many Iraqis' support, reduced violence and soon enabled reductions in U.S. troop numbers. His successor, Barack Obama, decided that Iraq was stable enough and pursued a course that by the end of 2011 removed all remaining U.S. troops -- only to see a vicious war erupt, resulting in the installation of a terrorist state in much of Iraq in 2014. This required U.S. forces to return and fight for three more years. Obama's focus on ending an "endless war" had produced more war.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq generated political bitterness in the United States. So, today, has the war in Iran. But the Iranian regime's half-century quest to bring "Death to America" has harmed thousands and aggravated regional instability. It put Iran on the verge of possessing nuclear weapons, a posture U.S. presidents of both parties have said was unacceptably risky for the region and the United States.
Reasonable Americans differ as to whether such wars are necessary, whether their objectives are sound, how competently they are fought and when they should end. Those are serious questions. But describing the wars as endless does not answer them. And fear of "endless war" is not a substitute for careful thought.
Read in The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/11/10/trump-others-decry-endless-wars-phrase-is-not-useful/).
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Douglas J. Feith is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. He works on a range of foreign and defense issues, writing and lecturing on such topics as terrorism, arms control, alliance relations, national security policy making and the relationship of policy and intelligence.
Lewis Libby was former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.
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Original text here: https://www.hudson.org/national-security-defense/endless-wars-catchy-phrase-not-reason-shift-policy-douglas-feith
[Category: ThinkTank]
Germany Far Behind UK and US in Number of Founders
MUNICH, Germany, Nov. 11 [Category: ThinkTank] -- ifo Institute posted the following news release:
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Germany Far Behind UK and US in Number of Founders
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* Germany Far Behind UK and US in Number of Founders
Germany's universities produce far fewer founders than the top locations in the United Kingdom and the US. This is shown by a new ifo analysis of founders and venture capital based on PitchBook data. In the Stanford University area, there are around 14 venture-capital-backed founders per 1,000 students each year; in Cambridge, Europe's front-runner, the figure is 3.5, and in Munich
... Show Full Article
MUNICH, Germany, Nov. 11 [Category: ThinkTank] -- ifo Institute posted the following news release:
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Germany Far Behind UK and US in Number of Founders
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* Germany Far Behind UK and US in Number of Founders
Germany's universities produce far fewer founders than the top locations in the United Kingdom and the US. This is shown by a new ifo analysis of founders and venture capital based on PitchBook data. In the Stanford University area, there are around 14 venture-capital-backed founders per 1,000 students each year; in Cambridge, Europe's front-runner, the figure is 3.5, and in Munichit is 0.5. "In Europe and in Germany, there are too few top universities that compete in the top tier of the global race for venture capital," says ifo President Clemens Fuest.
In the US, Philadelphia and Boston also post high values alongside Stanford, each with roughly 5 founders per 1,000 students per year. In Europe, Cambridge is followed by Oxford (2.1), St. Gallen (1.5), and London (1.3). Even Munich, the German top performer, reaches only 0.5 founders per 1,000 students, and Berlin 0.2. "Our analysis shows that start-ups are heavily concentrated in individual university locations, while the large continental European economies have comparatively few founder universities," says Oliver Falck, Director of the ifo Center for the Economics of Innovation and Digital Transformation.
According to the study, there is no mass exodus of founders to the US: of 1,613 founders with an EU bachelor's degree, only 13.1 percent founded their companies in the US. Funding differs markedly, however: founders educated in Europe raise around 5.3 times as much venture capital in their first five years in the US as when they start a company in the EU.
The authors recommend promoting top universities more strongly, making spin-offs easier, mobilizing more private capital, and reducing the costs of failure. "Entrepreneurship should be embedded much more firmly in university education so that more students recognize starting their own company as a real option for their future from the outset," says ifo researcher Leo Mengel.
The findings are based on PitchBook data from 2015-25.
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Original text here: https://www.ifo.de/en/press-release/2026-11-11/germany-far-behind-uk-and-us-number-founders
Economic & Social Research Institute: 'Large-scale International Studies of Teachers and Teaching: A Scoping Review'
DUBLIN, Ireland, Nov. 11 (TNSLrpt) -- The Economic and Social Research Institute issued the following journal article on November 8, 2026, entitled "Large-scale international studies of teachers and teaching: A scoping review."
Here are excerpts:
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In the context of the long-standing international comparative research literature on teaching and teacher education over the last half century, large-scale international studies have gained prominence in shaping educational policy and research, yet their potential to inform understandings of teachers and teaching has only recently been explored.
... Show Full Article
DUBLIN, Ireland, Nov. 11 (TNSLrpt) -- The Economic and Social Research Institute issued the following journal article on November 8, 2026, entitled "Large-scale international studies of teachers and teaching: A scoping review."
Here are excerpts:
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In the context of the long-standing international comparative research literature on teaching and teacher education over the last half century, large-scale international studies have gained prominence in shaping educational policy and research, yet their potential to inform understandings of teachers and teaching has only recently been explored.This scoping review synthesises 204 peer-reviewed studies from 1990 to 2023 drawing on data from international large-scale studies to investigate teaching, teachers and teacher education. The review followed the PRISMA-ScR guidelines and used the PICo framework to structure the search across Scopus, EBSCO and Web of Science databases. After removing duplicates and applying eligibility criteria, 204 studies were included, primarily drawing on TALIS (2008, 2013, 2018) with fewer using TIMSS, PIRLS and PISA.
The review included comparative and national studies utilising international datasets, focusing on in-service teachers and employing quantitative or mixed-method designs. Key findings, structured around four research questions, provide critical insights into teacher beliefs, efficacy, professional learning and career trajectories. While studies covered teachers at all career stages, particular attention was paid to what these data reveal about those in the first 10years of their careers. Comparatively less attention was given to research on beginning teachers' beliefs in this scoping review compared with, for example, the prevalence of studies focused on the beliefs of student teachers more generally.
Across studies, collaborative school cultures and embedded professional development were more strongly associated with positive outcomes such as teacher efficacy and job satisfaction than external structural factors. Professional development perceived as personalised and context-specific was most valued. Additionally, teacher supply and retention were influenced by factors such as accountability systems and perceived occupational value. The review highlights areas for further exploration and calls for complementary qualitative approaches to enrich understandings of teachers' professional lives across contexts.
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View the full doc at: https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.70254
[Category: ThinkTank]
