Research Library

A new analysis reveals substantial global health gains for AIDS, malaria and neglected tropical diseases that were first targeted by the administration of President George W. Bush in 2003 and then greatly expanded by the Obama administration. Beginning in 2016, an incoming administration will have opportunities to build on this legacy to control and eliminate poverty-related diseases — including those with pandemic potential — and to assert American leadership while being mindful of fiscal constraints.

What is empowerment? How can women across the MENA region become empowered? Is it possible for Western-born concepts — such as female empowerment — to travel across complex contexts and patriarchal/male-dominated cultures? While agreeing on a definition for female empowerment has proved to be a challenging task among scholars and policy practitioners, working out a universal framework that is applicable to different settings has proven to be an even more daunting task.

This issue brief explores China’s deepening relationship with Costa Rica, which severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 2007 to strengthen its economic ties with the PRC. China’s relationship with Costa Rica has opened the possibility for the PRC to reach out to other countries in the region.

Academic mobility is critical for robust collaborations in education, research and innovation between the U.S. and Mexico. Governments in both countries, in cooperation with nongovernmental actors, should provide a framework to develop mechanisms that generate and sustain a meaningful exchange of students, faculty, and staff from educational institutions at all levels of post-secondary education.

A deadly virus named MERS has spread from Saudi Arabia to over a dozen countries since 2012. While the chances for widespread infection are remote due to the virus's low human-to-human transmission rate, all governments should nevertheless support academic freedom and scientific collaboration to keep local outbreaks of viruses like MERS from becoming serious pandemics.

Neal Lane, senior fellow in science and technology policy, testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on July 17, 2014. Lane is co-chair of the American Academy of Arts and Science's project on New Models for U.S. Science and Technology Policy, and his testimony addressed the project's objective of sustaining a long-term, nonpartisan, national focus on science and technology policy issues of vital importance to the country.

This issue brief examines the signals conveyed by Mexico's 2014 energy reforms, and analyzes the limitations in law, institutional design and policy that may delay, if not derail, the reforms' success.

Fossil fuel subsidies have allowed energy exporting countries to distribute resource revenue, bolstering legitimacy for governments, many of which are not democratically elected. But subsidy benefits are dwarfed by the harmful consequences of encouraging uneconomic use of energy. Now, with consumption posing a threat to long-term exports, governments face a heightened need to raise prices that have come to be viewed as entitlements. While reforms of state benefits are notoriously politically dangerous, previous experience shows that subsidies can be rolled back without undermining government legitimacy — even in autocratic settings — given proper preparation.

Eight short policy papers address the major issues facing the eurozone — including government and corporate debt, impediments to economic growth, and more — and suggest policy measures to alleviate Europe's economic stress.