Research Library

It is inconceivable to imagine our nation today without the gains of the Civil Rights Act. It is impossible to understand why the issue was so divisive then, since it is such an obvious right and moral proposition. Similarly, let us hope we will look back at the Affordable Care Act 20 years from now and wonder why it was such a contentious topic in 2014.

By Zoe Russell

Following the legalization of retail marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington, and medical marijuana in…

By Jerry Epstein

Following the legalization of retail marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington, and medical marijuana…

Following the legalization of retail marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington, and medical marijuana in 22 states with more to follow, marijuana legalization appears inevitable — even in “law and order” states like Texas. Political science fellow Mark P. Jones discusses why Texas is unlikely to legalize the sale and consumption of marijuana in the near future.

By Rob Kampia

Following the legalization of retail marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington, and medical marijuana in…

President Obama’s commencement address at West Point on Wednesday was clearly aimed at deflecting rising criticism of his administration’s foreign policy. In particular, the speech was designed to address complaints that U.S. foreign policy under Obama has lacked strategic coherence and signaled a U.S. retreat from the international arena. The administration promoted the address as a platform for the president to describe his “vision” for U.S. foreign policy during the remainder of his term. To the extent that the speech did present a vision, it was not a particularly new one.

Talk of a “pivot to Asia” that supposedly would mark President Obama’s second term is “misplaced and even simplistic,” writes fellow Kristian Coates Ulrichsen. In a globalized world, “key U.S. relationships with strategic and commercial partners … cannot be addressed in isolation from one another. The convergence of U.S. ties and Asian ties with the Middle East is a case in point highlights how regions and issues are interconnected as never before.”

José Woldenberg, who served as the first president of Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute, traced the country's transition to democracy at an April 2014 lecture hosted by the Baker Institute Mexico Center. The center's Lisa Guaqueta and Kristin Foringer explain why Mexico's experience is distinct from similar processes elsewhere in the world.

Political science fellow Mark Jones offers insight to the March 4 Texas primaries.

While much media attention recently has focused on the geopolitical fault lines that connect Syria’s violence to wider region-wide trends, the plight of individual women, men, and children displaced within Syria or living in camps beyond its borders shows no sign of ending. As Secretary of State John Kerry has stated, the humanitarian situation in Syria is "an outrage" but the violence only looks set to worsen as opposition groups turn on each other and radical trans-national elements feed off the resulting vacuum of authority and control. This is the task as the international community prepares to reconvene in Switzerland on January 22, writes Baker Institute fellow Kristian Coates Ulrichsen in the Baker Institute Blog.