Research Library

The authors show that border barriers can have unintended but important biological consequences for biodiversity by, for instance, inducing changes to the environment and reducing genetic diversity.

Over a decade ago, the Inter-American Development Bank led an in-depth analysis of eight South American countries that profoundly influenced the understanding of political institutions and the policymaking process in Latin America. In 2018, the Baker Institute’s Latin America Initiative expanded the project to include four additional Central American countries: Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama. These country reports, written in Spanish, are available below. Hace casi una década, el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) impulso un análisis sobre ocho países suramericanos que influyó profundamente el entendimiento de instituciones políticas y el proceso de formulación de políticas públicas en América Latina. El Latin America Initiative del Baker Institute amplió el análisis para incluir a cuatro países de Centro América: Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador y Panamá. Estos ensayos forman parte del análisis sobre los países de Centro América.    

On Sept. 13, 2018, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and George Washington University’s Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) co-hosted the conference “Building Inclusive and Pluralistic States Post-Arab Spring.” The conference was the culmination of a two-year project funded by the Carnegie Corporation and showcased research by leading scholars of the Middle East on political, economic and socio-religious inclusion in Arab states since 2011. This report addresses some of the conference’s key conclusions and policy recommendations for U.S. policymakers concerned with the future stability of the Middle East.

In separate papers, two Baker Institute fellows — one Palestinian, the other Israeli — provide their perspectives on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

An exploratory study of Houston physicians revealed a general lack of awareness about the presence of Chagas disease in Texas. The results suggest the need to better educate health professionals on the diagnosis and timely treatment of Chagas patients in the region.

The Mexico Center’s quarterly newsletter provides the latest information on the center’s research and activities. Click here to read the December 2018 issue.

America's sordid history of intervention in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras has contributed to the region's instability and led to the flow of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. Even if one believes the U.S. owes these countries nothing, the only realistic way to significantly reduce the number of unauthorized Central American immigrants is to improve conditions in their homelands, fellow Mark Jones writes. Houston Chronicle: http://bit.ly/2USS9G0.

Fellow Joyce Beebe examines recent policies and proposals that aim to simplify the federal student loan process.

The authors examine a unique and anonymized dataset of complaints about government corruption in an urban Mexico district. The trends they found are transferable to other urban districts across the country and Latin America, they write, and may help anticorruption agencies in Mexico and beyond direct their efforts. https://doi.org/10.25613/cqgc-xv79.

A Dec. 2018 workshop on money laundering in Mexico, held at Tecnológico de Monterrey and co-sponsored by the Baker Institute Mexico Center, resulted in the executive report below. It is written in Spanish.