Research Library

With the election of ruling-party presidential candidate William Lai last January, Taiwan is set to continue its shift away from nuclear power. Experts discuss what this means for energy security, cross-strait relations, and the push for sovereignty.

This week, the White House announced a new initiative to tackle the growing use of fentanyl laced with xylazine — known to many as "tranq." This combination of drugs poses an alarming and significant threat to public health.

In the United States, drug overdose deaths are on the rise. In 2022, CDC researchers reported that 110,236 people died from an overdose in a single 12-month period, setting a new record. Synthetic opioid overdose deaths, primarily due to fentanyl, increased nearly 7.5-fold from 2015 to 2021. In Texas, the number of fentanyl-related deaths rose dramatically — from 883 deaths in 2020 to 1,672 deaths in 2021. While Republican lawmakers in Texas have previously opposed harm reduction policies, many have signaled a desire to take policy action to combat the crisis in the 2023 legislative session.

The short days and winter storms of January have kept drivers off the roads—lowering the demand for gas and increasing the available supply. Yet, oil prices are still rising as the Russia-Ukraine war continues to disrupt global energy markets. We discuss the latest market trends and developments in global energy markets— including the European Union embargo on Russian oil exports and the price caps that G-7 nations are preparing to set on Russian diesel, kerosene and oil.