Research Library

This brief assesses the strategic and economic challenges of energy security amid a transition to a lower-carbon energy future.

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.

Immigration policy will look very different in a Trump or Joe Biden presidency. This brief summarizes changes that have occurred under the Trump administration so far and examines the repercussions of the November election on four aspects of immigration policy.

For petrostates like Saudi Arabia, new tactics and strategies will be needed to recapture the strategic interest of global powers, and to cope with the transition away from fossil fuels. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Fall 2020.

The authors compare the impacts of energy-related sanctions against Russia and a market-based geoeconomics policy, and suggest options for U.S. involvement in the region.

Using religious political parties in Iran and Turkey as case studies, the authors argue that the parties are not passively constrained by religious doctrine. Rather, they actively and continually construct religious narratives that respond to their immediate threat perceptions and political environment. Read more at Political Science Quarterly.

Fellow Kristian Coates Ulrichsen examines where the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council currently stand in their outlook and approaches toward the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Read the Baker Institute Blog for the latest updates on the spread of Covid-19 and the best defenses against it.

Saudi Arabia’s newfound willingness to take a stand against oil quota cheats has forced the rest of OPEC+ to adhere to their quotas. Will today’s discipline – driven by the biggest-ever plunge in oil demand – fade alongside the virus? Read more in the Baker Institute Blog.

The staggering collapse in Venezuela's oil and gas industry has renewed calls for liberalizing reforms. But a democratic transition and legal reforms may not be enough to attract the large investments needed.