Research Library

In a recent commentary, Baker Institute science and technology policy experts described two international court cases that aimed to define “research” — and that ultimately arrived at two different answers. “What makes this interesting is that the courts’ definition of ‘research’ was based on politics — what the court wanted the end result to be,” said Kirstin Matthews, the institute’s fellow in science and technology policy. To reach a decision prohibiting human embryonic stem cell (hESC) patents, the EU court ruled that “research” occurs in a continuum. To reach a decision supporting federal funding of stem cell research, the U.S. court ruled that “research” involves a specific project.

Two cheers for the interim agreement over Iran’s nuclear program. It is welcome, if not earth-shattering news.

In 2005, a decree that gave Kuwaiti women the right to vote and run for office allowed women unprecedented access to political power and opened many previously closed doors. However, women in Kuwait are still prevented from attaining their full political and social rights due to outdated social traditions and beliefs that pressure women to remain in the home.

The success of the post-2015 U.N. development agenda will depend on a strong intergovernmental partnership for development and a system of accountability and effective monitoring.

The technical problems plaguing the health exchange roll-out came without warning, and health policy scholar Elena Marks, an advocate of health care reform, is not happy about it. Read her Oct. 25, 2013, blog.

The United States should expand the scope of its talks with Iran to include other vital issues.

The United States and Russia have a limited time to bring an end to Syria’s civil war.

The challenge ahead for Mexico's leaders is to determine how to dismantle an import-substitution model in its commercial, psychological and ideological dimensions, and in the process, propose a way to align Mexico's oil regime with global practices.

Rice University sophomore Alejandro Botas blogs for the Transnational China Project.