Research Library

Social distancing and stay-at-home measures provided scientists with a natural experiment to study social phenomena that hinge precisely on human mobility and contact — including criminal activity. A study by Center for the U.S. and Mexico experts and co-authors explores the relationship between COVID-19 and criminal activity in Mexico.

This article argues that Sultan Sa‘id bin Taymur played a more fundamental role in developing Oman than what is commonly portrayed.

The authors respond to a critique of their prior article, elaborating on how "a switch from fossil fuel systems to renewables involves sharp declines in risk and mining."

Reversing a more typical pattern of using existing security ties to attract investors, Guyana and Qatar have demonstrated how two small states can use foreign direct investment by oil and gas firms to bolster security ties with the U.S., writes energy fellow Jim Krane in a new article for Resources Policy.

An emerging perspective in U.S. public discourse claims that a buildout of renewable electricity would exacerbate supply risks, mining intensity, and import dependence. This ScienceDirect article from fellow Jim Krane and graduate student Robert Idel contends the opposite is true, demonstrating how transitioning to renewables hugely reduces the materials, mining and political risk involved compared to coal.

Argentina is a risky place for foreign investors. But the country’s Vaca Muerta offers a case study on how unconventional shale gas investment may be lower risk, with implications that could spur shale production outside the U.S.

The authors examine the legacy and outcomes of Japanese foreign direct investment in the Persian Gulf from the late 1950s until the early 1980s.

For petrostates like Saudi Arabia, new tactics and strategies will be needed to recapture the strategic interest of global powers, and to cope with the transition away from fossil fuels. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Fall 2020.

Climate change poses a strategic dilemma for Gulf oil-exporting states. The author analyzes the risks of climate (in)action for regimes who must weigh the costs of decarbonization against the costs of climate change. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies: http://bit.ly/30udfxC

The author examines Saudi Arabia's climate strategy as part of an Oxford Institute for Energy Studies report on economic diversification in the MENA.