Economic Strategy and Operations Unit

Aerial Shot of Oil Refinery in Wilmington, California

An oil refinery in Wilmington, California near the port of Los Angeles

Photo by halbergman/Getty Images

RAND’s Economic Strategy and Operations Unit (ESOU) operates at the intersection of economic statecraft and national security, delivering timely insights and actionable recommendations and facilitating collaborative engagements.

ESOU helps the U.S. government harness the nation’s economic and commercial strengths to advance national security, U.S. interests, and economic prosperity. Drawing on RAND expertise in economics, finance, technology, national security, and strategy, ESOU delivers rapid, data-driven analyses and leverages sophisticated forecasting and backcasting models as well as scenario-driven frameworks to help policymakers design and execute geoeconomic tools with precision. Working across government and industry, ESOU finds practical ways to channel investment, build partnerships, strengthen U.S. resilience, and build durable advantages.

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ESOU Capabilities

Foundational Research on Economic Dimensions of National Security

Conduct in-depth studies anchored in rigorous analysis, including new approaches for deploying commercial power in 21st century strategic competition with a goal of ensuring U.S. technoeconomic leadership and sustained strategic advantage. From analyses of critical minerals supply chains to evaluations of U.S. commercial competitiveness across sectors, ESOU’s work helps decisionmakers successfully navigate the intersection of economic statecraft and national security.

Analytic Decision Support for Economics and National Security

Provide quick-turn analyses to support high-stakes policymaking. These efforts include economic endurance studies and quantitative estimates of the impacts from policy changes. ESOU’s novel scenario-based analysis capabilities offer policymakers a framework for both designing and understanding the impact of economic policies.

Commercial Engagement via Public-Private Partnerships

Convene experts from industry, government, and academia to align commercial and security goals, and to foster meaningful dialogue with tangible outcomes.

Unfettered Access to Expert Analysis

Provide access to a deep bench of analysts with diverse commercial expertise, including in finance (e.g., private equity, investment banking, venture capital) and in technical domains (e.g., critical minerals). ESOU’s placement within RAND’s National Defense Research Institute (NDRI) FFRDC allows the U.S. government to access this expertise.

Featured Work

More NSRD Reports on Economic Strategy

Related Research

Our Experts

  • Daniel Egel

    Daniel Egel

    Director, RAND Economic Strategy and Operations Unit

    Daniel Egel is an economist at RAND, director of RAND’s Economic Strategy and Operations Unit, and a professor of policy analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy. His research focuses on the intersection of economics and national security, particularly as it applies to U.S. overseas activities. Egel served as an embedded analyst with the Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan and NATO Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan, as the lead researcher for an international team assessing job creation opportunities for Syrian refugees, and as an embedded monitoring and evaluation specialist within Yemen’s Social Fund for Development. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
  • Jennie Wenger

    Jennie Wenger

    Associate Director, RAND Economic Strategy and Operations Unit

    Jennie W. Wenger is a Senior Economist at RAND, associate director of RAND’s Economic Strategy and Operations Unit (ESOU), and a professor of policy analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy. Within ESOU, she manages the quality assurance process and focuses on developing research talent. Along with economic strategy, her research focuses on human capital development and on disconnected youth. She previously spent six years serving as the Research Department Director for Economics, Sociology, and Statistics at RAND. Wenger received her Ph. D. from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Contact Us

Email us at ESOU@rand.org to learn more about how ESOU is helping the U.S. integrate economic statecraft into national security policy.