Research Library

Taiwan’s Jan. 13 elections saw voters assert an increasingly diverse and inclusive democratic identity. Allies and foes alike should take note, writes fellow Steven W. Lewis.

For research involving human embryos and other controversial subjects, science journals should require ethics statements from researchers detailing research oversight, what embryos were used, how many and for how long. This will help increase transparency and improve communication with the public, writes Science and Technology Policy Fellow Kirstin R.W. Matthews.

Will 2024 be another chaotic year in U.S. foreign policy? From Ukraine to the Israel-Hamas war, fellow Joe Barnes reviews the major challenges President Joe Biden faced in 2023 and what they could mean for the November election.

“Nearly one billion travelers pass through U.S. airports each year,” writes Alicia L. Johnson, civic science postdoctoral associate. In a new commentary, she outlines how the CDC’s genomic surveillance program, which monitors airport wastewater for traces of infectious disease, must balance public health and privacy concerns.

Armed conflicts in the Middle East and Europe and a strained relationship with China mean that U.S. foreign policy is currently operating in crisis mode. Fellow Joe Barnes discusses the many challenges we face and how multiple issues are contributing to this perfect storm.

When the OPEC+ group met last week and agreed to extend production cuts through the first quarter of 2024, the market was unimpressed. Fellow in Energy and Global Oil, Mark Finley, outlines the meeting’s outcomes and discusses why the recent agreement “could augur a year of difficult meetings ahead” in a new commentary.

Republicans are ready to support Israel. But what about Ukraine? As the war between Israel and Hamas intensifies, fellow Joe Barnes examines the shifting focus of U.S. foreign policy and what it means for Kyiv.

The work of Katalin Karikó, 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine recipient, laid a foundation for the development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines that saved close to 20 million lives worldwide. But her discoveries almost did not happen, writes Alicia L. Johnson, a civic science postdoctoral associate at the Baker Institute Center for Health and Biosciences. Karikó’s story highlights the vital importance of supporting women in STEM.

In the fight against Mexican criminal cartels, social network analysis can predict and map out their alliances and subgroups — using algorithms to predict new connections. In this commentary, Nonresident Scholar in Drug Policy and Mexico Studies Nathan P. Jones and his co-authors outline their recent work in the field.

The deepening conflict in Gaza reveals the risk of being a global power. It’s time for us to substantially reduce U.S. commitments around the world — or dramatically increase the resources we commit to defending our far-flung interests, writes fellow Joe Barnes.