Research Library

Lebanon faces significant developmental challenges, including insufficient electricity supply, environmental degradation and staggering inequality, yet the government has not invested in these areas despite substantial economic growth in recent decades. This student brief uses agenda-setting theory to argue that Lebanon’s disappointing record of development is reflected in the narrow political agenda of the government. This brief is part of a two-year project on pluralism and inclusion in the Middle East post-Arab Spring. The project is generously supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Why do unaccompanied minors flee their home countries and what happens when they reach Mexico or the United States?  This report provides an overview of the perilous journey and the reality of detention centers, concluding that a child-centric approach in both countries should address the needs of these children.

While the U.S. still maintains the overall lead in Nobel prizes (with the exception of literature), the rate at which American scientists have been awarded the prize has declined since the late 1970s. Fellow Kirstin R.W. Matthews and postdoctoral fellow Kenneth M. Evans explore the state of scientific collaboration in the U.S. in this Baker Institute blog: https://bit.ly/2yiNhzF

This brief sets out some of the major structural reforms to taxes, subsidies, and debt issuance in the GCC that are shifting financial burdens from the state to its citizens and residents.

Nonresident fellow Jesús Velasco examines the domestic politics in the U.S. and Mexico to explore the roots of contemporary political tensions between the two countries, an approach he writes is needed to determine the future of bilateral relations.

The Trump administration's family reunification policy is insufficient to address the lasting impacts of the president's zero-tolerance immigration policy, writes Erika de la Garza, program director for the Latin America Initiative, in the Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/2NMQnCU.

The authors examine the impact of draconian immigration policies on business sectors that depend on immigrants, many times undocumented, for labor. 

As the competition between the U.S. and China intensifies, energy fellow Gabriel Collins calls for U.S. leadership in a technology race that will determine global influence for decades to come.

In a new survey, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Episcopal Health Foundation sought to gauge Texans’ views on health policy priorities at both the state and national level. Overall, the survey finds that health care is a priority for Texans, with over half saying the state legislature should increase spending on health care programs, while roughly two-thirds of Texans say the state should expand its Medicaid program.

Nonresident scholar Elizabeth Salamanca provides an overview of the main types of visas obtained by highly skilled migrants, and how each visa category could potentially change under the Trump administration.