Since all parties involved will undoubtedly bear the consequences of Trump's highly problematic Peace to Prosperity plan, it is worth examining its framework and how Israelis, Palestinians and Arab states can navigate the negotiation process.
This brief assesses the consequences of the Trump administration’s new policy on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, particularly within the context of past legal arguments and the stances of six previous U.S. presidential administrations.
The authors explain why unilateral annexation of the West Bank by Israel would have pernicious and lasting consequences, leading Israel to an unprecedented crisis of delegitimization, enhanced demonization and isolation.
While academic and popular debates tend to focus on differential benefits and costs of trade across countries or industries, this brief highlights winners and losers at the level of individual firms. The authors demonstrate that preferential liberalization produces concentrated benefits among a relatively small number of very large and productive firms.
Pablo M. Pinto, Leonardo Baccini, Stephen WeymouthNovember 21, 2017
Although there are enormous potential benefits for Mexico's energy sector in the future, there are also important challenges the country must overcome to fully realize its energy potential. One of them has to do with the land ownership and land use regime in Mexico. As the legislative debate on the new Ley de Petróleos and the Ley de la Comisión Federal de Electricidad (Petroleum Act and Federal Electric Utility Act) proceeded in the summer of 2014, the Mexican Congress anticipated potential land-related conflicts associated with exploration and production activities related to hydrocarbons and new energy-related infrastructure projects. These potential conflicts stem from the fact that all of these projects will necessarily require the right of way to access and work on the resources in the subsoil of privately owned as well as on so-called “socially owned” lands in regions targeted for energy development. Thus, the Mexican Congress sought to avoid land-related conflicts by including language related to land ownership and use in the new energy legislation. The legislation, however, may not be able to prevent such conflicts.
Tony Payan, Guadalupe Correa-CabreraOctober 29, 2014
Mexico's organized crime groups have expanded into areas that include the theft of crude oil, gas and gasoline. The impact of organized crime on the energy sector is a real threat to the intended effects of Mexico's energy reforms.