Research Library

President Barack Obama’s visit to Argentina launched new bilateral relations in which traditional diplomacy was widely displayed with the signing of agreements in economics, energy, climate change, multilateral cooperation, global health, democracy, human rights, security and defense.

President Vladimir Putin's decision to withdraw the "main part" of Russia's forces from Syria blindsided most foreign policy experts and set off wide speculation about the reasons behind his move, writes Bonner Means Baker Fellow Joe Barnes.

With the implementation of the Iran nuclear agreement, many Gulf Cooperative Council states now openly wonder whether U.S. support can still be relied upon, given the speed with which the U.S. government has engaged Iran in negotiation and diplomacy since 2013. This incomprehension may lead to further instability in the Middle East as the Gulf States continue to take increasingly unilateral action in Yemen and other regional conflict zones, fellow for the Middle East Kristian Coates Ulrichsen writes.

The range of responses in the six Gulf states to the Iran nuclear deal illustrates both the diversity of regional approaches to Iran and the absence of any monolithic “Gulf position” on the issue.

The Iran nuclear deal marks a significant victory for both the Obama administration and the government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. On balance, the agreement is a good one. But make no mistake: it might yet fail.

The relationship between Mexico and Texas is in dire need of reassessment, given the chasm between the reality of the countries’ economic and cultural relationship and the political rhetoric that surrounds it.

As Congress resumes work this spring on a bill granting Trade Promotion Authority to President Obama for completion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, many members have sought inclusion of a chapter on currency manipulation. Currency manipulation is a legitimate concern. However, countermeasures require clear, objective identification of currency manipulation. Both the IMF and the U.S. Treasury Department have mandates to identify currency manipulation, yet neither has done so in the past 20 years. If it can be done, why has it not happened more often? In this issue brief, Russell Green, Will Clayton Fellow in International Economics, reviews the difficulties of operationalizing a currency manipulation chapter and argues that the difficulty of identifying currency manipulation suggests serious political obstacles to implementation.

Part 2 of a two-part blog on China’s economy. Part 1 can be found here.

At this point, projections indicate that a…

This week, negotiators announced the framework of a nuclear agreement — ultimately, a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — with Iran. If a final deal can be struck and if the agreement holds, this deal will mark a historic foreign policy achievement, writes Joe Barnes.

In contrast to the generally accepted view of U.S. policy toward hostile regimes, especially in the Caribbean basin, Washington is not trying to destabilize the government of Venezuela. In fact, it is making efforts to keep Nicolás Maduro in office. With U.S. foreign policy in a precarious position — facing challenges from ISIS, Russia and China — stabilizing the Maduro government looks like the most rational option to support the White House’s current interests in the Western Hemisphere.