Research Library

In April 2023 — 75 years after Israel's founding — diplomats, policymakers and other stakeholders gathered in Baker Hall to explore the past, present and future of the U.S.-Israeli relationship. This report summarizes key points that emerged from the discussions.

Held virtually across three days in December 2020, the Presidential Elections Program's third conference — "A Presidential Election During the Time of COVID-19" — brought together a diverse group of academics, campaign consultants and other prominent individuals to review the dynamics and outcome of the 2020 presidential election. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions of the many individuals who participated in the conference’s five thematic panels, as well as a moderated conversation featuring veteran political consultants Stephanie Cutter and Beth Myers, who served as the conference's honorary co-chairs.

In 2005, former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, co-chaired the Commission on Federal Election Reform, which produced a report on the U.S. electoral process and recommendations on maximizing ballot access and election integrity. In June 2021, The Carter Center and the Baker Institute held five webinars that again examined critical challenges facing the U.S. electoral system. This report includes the results of the discussions.

By Colton Cox On March 17, 2019, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a conference entitled “Religious Authority in the Middle East: Implications for U.S. Policy.” The conference, organized by the Baker Institute Center for the Middle East, was the culmination of a survey-based project of the Middle East and North African region funded by the Henry R. Luce Foundation and led by the Baker Institute’s A.Kadir Yildirim. This report highlights key findings and themes from the conference.

The Baker Institute's Presidential Elections Program held its second conference, “A Presidential Election in an Uncertain Time” in December 2019. Fellows Mark P. Jones and John B. Williams summarize the presentations and discussions of the many academics, campaign consultants, journalists, and other individuals who participated in the four thematic panels as well as a lunch conversation featuring political consultants James Carville and Mary Matalin.

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.

The Baker Institute's Presidential Elections Program held its inaugural conference, “Social Media, Changing Demographics and Implications of the 2016 Presidential Election,” in March 2018. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions of the more than two dozen individuals who participated in the conference’s four thematic panels as well as a lunch conversation featuring veteran political consultants David Axelrod and Karl Rove, who served as the conference's honorary directors.

This report summarizes the key findings from a workshop on Tunisian politics and Islam the Baker Institute hosted at the Al-Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center in Tunis on Feb. 12.

In February 2018, the Baker Institute, the American University of Beirut’s Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York held a two-day conference in Beirut to examine critical challenges and effective policy options for fostering more inclusive and pluralistic systems in the MENA. Leading experts discussed issues such as post-conflict reconstruction and the economic, political, and socio-religious dimensions of pluralism and inclusion in the MENA. This report summarizes some of the participants' discussions and proposals.