Research Library

This brief explores the Trump administration's policy toward Iran and analyzes the ways in which it differs from that of the Obama administration.

This month, the Syrian Civil War will have lasted seven years. The authors of this brief explore how the United States — first under President Barack Obama and now under President Donald Trump — has struggled to develop a coherent strategy that balances U.S. interests in the conflict with the military, financial and diplomatic resources necessary to pursue them.

The Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids Act proposes a national database that would serve as a centralized source of information on children with medically complex conditions. The aim is to improve treatment and care coordination. The authors of this brief argue, however, that the database could put children and their families at risk of discrimination by making their health information public, and therefore accessible to employers and health insurers.

Children with medical complexity (CMC), defined as children who have chronic medical conditions that can be expected to last at least one year and to require speciality pediatric care, depend on technology and multiple providers for their acute and daily health needs. The authors explore how the use of telemedicine, coupled with a patient-centered medical home model of care, can improve the efficacy and efficiency of care for CMC.

This policy brief analyzes the impact of the increasing number of parents who opt their children out of school-entry vaccinations for nonmedical reasons in Texas and argues that the state should make obtaining nonmedical exemptions more rigorous in order to reduce the public health risks and costs associated with vaccine-preventable diseases.

With two corporate groups dominating Mexico's television sector, the country’s 2014 telecommunications reform established constitutional “must carry” and “must offer” (MC/MO) regulations. These regulations mandate that free-to-air broadcasters must allow pay TV companies to retransmit in the same coverage area without payment (must offer) and that pay TV companies must provide audiences with these free-to-air broadcasts without passing fees along to subscribers (must carry). While the reform legislation places rhetorical importance on promoting culturally diverse and pluralistic content for all broadcast audiences, there is little substantive commitment to these ideals. The Mexican variation of MC/MO is an ad hoc policy with many flaws. Ultimately, the Supreme Court will determine the future of MC/MO in Mexico. Given the reform’s legal framework, however, content diversity and pluralism will not be enhanced by MC/MO in Mexico.