Research Library

The Arab Gulf is protecting its own interests by pushing to keep fossil fuels in the mix. But more crucially, its agenda is in line with the world’s economic growth and development goals, writes Osamah Alsayegh.

Electronic waste is surging globally, presenting growing threats to the environment and human health. Rachel A. Meidl explains how coordinated action can help us move to a sustainable, circular economy of electronics.

This report takes a deep dive into how expanding the scope of the nonimmigrant TN Visa — available only to Mexican and Canadian citizens — could help solve the U.S. labor shortage. In a political climate where full-scale immigration reform seems impossible, more temporary work visas can help bridge the labor gap.

Kuwait lags behind the other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council in its progress toward sustainable energy targets. Its pro-rentier democracy is slowing it down, writes visiting scholar Osamah Alsayegh.

In the next year, the EPA could make a final decision on whether to classify PVC as hazardous waste. What would this entail? Fellow Rachel Meidl explores why a hazardous designation for PVC would have costly implications — moving the U.S. further from its goal of achieving a sustainable, circular economy.

China’s dominance over the supply of rare earths — which are critical for energy transition and defense technologies — should spur U.S. policymakers to bolster raw materials supply chains, write energy fellow Michelle Michot Foss and co-author Jacob Koelsch.

Without urgent action, the impact of China’s water shortages will ripple across the globe and dramatically perturb global markets for food, energy and industrial goods, write fellow Gabriel Collins and co-author Gopal Reddy.

The authors examine tensions in nickel supply and value chains within the context of broad aspirations to electrify transport. Through their case study, which focuses on China’s growing presence in Indonesian nickel extraction and processing, they contend that China is positioning itself as a gatekeeper to the energy transition — with vast implications for strategic planning in the United States.

David A. Gantz, the Will Clayton Fellow in Trade and International Economics, analyzes a wide range of factors — including the U.S.-China trade war, the entry into force of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the COVID-19 pandemic — that are all contributing to the pressure on the U.S. to decouple from China and to shift supply chains back to North America.

The authors offer strategies to counter an increasingly aggressive China and to position the Indo-Asia-Pacific for continued prosperity and growth under a rules-based regional system. Their recommendations comprise a dynamic blend of diplomatic, information, military and economic action.