Research Library

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.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s investment policies, which aim to return Mexico to the protectionist, state-led policies of the 1960s and 1970s, seem almost certain to stagnate the country’s economy.

The energy policies of the United States and Mexico are at a crossroads, writes nonresident scholar Isidro Morales. In this report, he explains that the future direction of energy in both nations depends on how global energy markets adjust to the latest shock to the system — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This paper reviews the attempts of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to push for reforms in the electricity sector that would strengthen the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, Mexico’s state-owned electric utility, while limiting the involvement of privately owned power companies.

"Creating a global norm for PPA transparency is a zero-cost step to help provide energy for everyone and deliver on the low carbon future we all need," write the authors. Read their post about power purchase agreements on the Baker Institute Blog.  This article originally appeared in the Forbes blog on June 1, 2022.

With Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pushing for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to replace the Organization of American States (OAS), which the U.S. currently dominates, the future of security relations in the Western Hemisphere is in question. This paper assesses four possible future scenarios and offers policy recommendations for a reimagined OAS.

Three key Texas runoffs in the Texas Democratic congressional primaries demonstrate the ongoing battles between establishment and progressive wings of the Democratic party, writes the author, and the outcomes will either enhance or undermine Democratic efforts to retain control of the U.S. House in the 2022 midterms. Read his opinion on the Baker Institute Blog.  This opinion originally appeared in The Hill on May 24, 2022.

The UK recently announced that it will pursue commercial arrangements with up to 20 individual U.S. states, beginning with Texas. In this brief, fellow David Gantz explores what these arrangements could achieve and the potential legal and constitutional constraints that may limit their reach.