Research Library

This brief assesses the consequences of the Trump administration’s new policy on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, particularly within the context of past legal arguments and the stances of six previous U.S. presidential administrations.

Texas Democrats’ only hope of having some direct or indirect impact on the 2021 redistricting process is to take control of the Texas House. By the same token, if the Texas GOP can retain its House majority, it will be able to draw tailor-made legislative districts that will increase its prospects of retaining control of the Texas Senate and House during the next decade as well as increase the odds of the GOP retaking control of the U.S. House during the next decade. Click this page for the first of a half dozen of periodic ratings of the Texas House seats deemed to be competitive in terms of the ability of a candidate from either party to win in November 2020.

In late November, Hong Kong's high court ruled that a government ban on face masks was unconstitutional. This brief analyzes Beijing's subsequent response that, if enforced, may signal the extension of unchecked central dictatorship over Hong Kong’s political apparatus.

The authors examine the varied approaches used by the U.S. and Iran during the ongoing nuclear negotiations, with particular emphasis on how each side approaches the Israeli-Palestinian arena and Iran’s entrenchment in Syria and Lebanon.

The authors examine the investments, trade-offs and broad policy changes necessary to reimagine the U.S. health care delivery system.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has pledged to end corrupt practices in Mexico. Yet some of his other goals — such as returning to a more centralized government — might actually foster corruption. Postdoctoral fellow Jose Ivan Rodriguez-Sanchez explores this situation and analyzes the relationship between democracy and corruption in Mexico.

The author analyzes the challenges Mexico’s 2013 energy reforms pose to the current administration, as well as the limitations the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement imposes on changes in Mexico’s energy policies.

This analysis explores the consequences of West Bank annexation for Israel’s international standing, internal cohesion and socio-economic fabric, and security within a larger framework of regional stability.

David Buckley offers brief reflections on distinct approaches to religion in U.S. diplomacy, particularly at the State Department, and the implications they may have for religious tolerance abroad. His post is the first of 12 prepared for an April 2019 workshop on “Religion, Reverence and Tolerance” organized by the Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance at Rice University.  Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/2z6CGZo

By Paul Lagunes, Baker Institute for Public Policy; Xiaoxuan Yang, Columbia University; and Andrés Castro, Columbia University. Corruption is a persistent problem throughout Latin America. Higher rates of perceived corruption are associated with lower levels of economic welfare and direct foreign investment, write the authors.