Research Library

Although President Joe Biden restored a more traditional approach to U.S. foreign policy in his first two years, he has been no Obama 2.0.

Biden’s foreign policy retains the usual mix of high ideals and pragmatic self-interest that has been a hallmark of U.S. foreign policy since the Republic’s founding.

President Biden’s visit was a disappointment for those advocating major changes in U.S. policy toward the Middle East.

President Biden's foreign policy is colored by both decisiveness and a realism that falls short of his idealism, with a result that draws elements of Trump's and Obama's approaches together, writes fellow Joe Barnes. Read his post on our blog.

"As the U.S. and Iran prepare for talks to revive the nuclear agreement that Washington abandoned in 2018, the leadership in Tehran is laying the groundwork for a newly assertive foreign policy," writes fellow Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar in Foreign Affairs. Read the full article here.

Amid recent disputes on oil trade, "fractious Saudi-UAE relations are ... better understood as a return to the pre-2015 status quo than a unique diplomatic breach," write Jim Krane and Kristian Coates Ulrichsen.

The U.S. oil, gas and coal industry largely rose and fell based on global economic and energy market conditions rather than federal energy and environmental policies implemented by the Trump administration, write the authors. As the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, they expect markets to continue to shape the future of the oil and gas industry. Read more on the Baker Institute Blog.

Scenes of insurrectionists rummaging through offices and computers in the Capitol highlight the urgent need for Congress to up its IT security game. The authors recommend steps to adopt modern IT management and cybersecurity processes that are already used throughout the federal government.

When President-elect Joe Biden assumes office in January, he will be compelled to deal with the most important and ferociously complicated geopolitical question the United States faces today: how to manage its relations with China. Fellow Joe Barnes explains how the U.S.-China situation differs from the Cold War dynamic, and how the U.S. will best be served in the years ahead. Read more at the Baker Institute Blog.