In June 2023, the international boundary treaty governing the U.S.-Mexico border came under attack from Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lonestar. In a new research paper, nonresident scholars Stephen Mumme and Regina M. Buono outline the treaty’s history and examine key issues — advising on merits of recent challenges and long-term implications for the binational relationship between the United States and Mexico.

This reports looks at the future potential of green hydrogen hubs in Chile, and how to decarbonize the economy while making use of the country's abundant renewable energy resources, wind and solar power.

Among the U.S. citizens migrating to Mexico in recent years are an unknown number of Americans who married Mexican citizens and were co-deported or departed voluntarily with their undocumented spouses, the authors report. Without improved consular services and a diaspora policy that anticipates the likely return of these Americans in the future, the authors worry that the United States risks re-inheriting a sizable U.S. population that may well require critical government services to reintegrate after a prolonged period abroad.

As China continues to open up to the transnational circulation of labor, ideas, technology and capital under globalization, one must wonder: will Chinese society’s more cosmopolitan and transnational groups continue to be guided by guanxi, the system of social networks and influential relationships that facilitate business and other dealings?

This paper analyzes access to water in Mexico in the context of the country’s energy reform, including social conflicts that may arise from opposing environmental and energy priorities.

What structural and nonstructural solutions could better protect the Houston-Galveston area from the devastating impact of hurricanes and severe storms? Baker Institute fellows Jim Blackburn and Regina Buono studied the issue from legal, policy and governmental perspectives.

This paper reports the key climate change and public policy issues addressed by guest speakers during the 2014-15 Climate Lecture Series hosted by the Center for Energy Studies.

Part of a study directed by the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute, Harvard University’s Geopolitics of Energy Project at the Kennedy School and the University of California, Davis, Graduate School of Management.

To access the full paper, download the PDF on the left-hand sidebar.

Executive Summary

We propose a national marketing…

A tiny, uninhabited chain of islands in the East China Sea is the focus of a growing dispute between China and Japan.