Research Library

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.

President López Obrador was skeptical of the coronavirus threat and ignored the recommendations of his own health experts. He downplayed the crisis and relied on his intuition instead of science, with disastrous results. He will be even more distracted in the coming months as he campaigns for re-election.

While sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline project would be very well received in Central and Eastern Europe, they could make the already strained relationship between U.S. and its Western European allies even more challenging, the author writes in a Forbes blog post: http://bit.ly/305Cc1F and the Baker Institute Blog.

The Trump administration's family reunification policy is insufficient to address the lasting impacts of the president's zero-tolerance immigration policy, writes Erika de la Garza, program director for the Latin America Initiative, in the Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/2NMQnCU.

A scandal that involves high-ranking officials from Costa Rica's three branches of government is testing the country's reputation for democratic stability. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law a controversial "sanctuary cities" measure that allows police officers to ask people during routine stops if they are in the U.S. legally. Research analyst Pamela Cruz describes the legal fight to prevent the law's enforcement.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro appears to be a month away from destroying all remnants of what was once one of Latin America's most stable democracies.

Bonner Means Baker Fellow Joe Barnes suggests that Trump’s core philosophies as a deal-maker may guide his policy decisions as president in this post on the Baker Institute Blog.

Colombians on Sunday (10/2) voted against a peace deal with FARC negotiated by President Juan Manuel Santos. What are the potential ramifications of the vote, and the prospects for resolving the country's decades-long confict with the rebel group?

President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia promised that if his administration negotiated peace with the guerrilla group FARC, he would bring the agreement to the people for ratification. But his request for a plebiscite (a type of referendum) quickly turned into a clash between Santos and former President Alvaro Uribe, whose Centro Democrático party is leading a campaign against the agreement. Read more at the Houston Chronicle Blog: http://bit.ly/2cTT8zB