Research Library

Despite near-universal identification with the Palestinian cause and a visceral opposition to Israel, religious and Islamist responses to the Arab normalization agreements have ranged from sharply critical to relatively measured. What's behind this variation? Middle East fellow A.Kadir Yildirim explains.

Immigration is not only a domestic issue for the United States, but a regional one. This brief lays out a policy framework to address the root causes of migration from Mexico and Central America and promote legal, orderly mobility.

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.

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.

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.

Since all parties involved will undoubtedly bear the consequences of Trump's highly problematic Peace to Prosperity plan, it is worth examining its framework and how Israelis, Palestinians and Arab states can navigate the negotiation process.

Once the Covid-19 pandemic has subsided, the new Israeli government will face serious flaws in, among other things, the territorial dimensions of President Trump's “Deal of the Century,” writes Middle East fellow Gilead Sher for the Baker Institute blog: https://bit.ly/2VvkBPw

Understanding the strategic and tactical considerations of Saudi Arabia will be the key factor for the success of U.S. policy in the wake of the oil price crash and Covid-19 outbreak.

By Colton Cox On March 17, 2019, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a conference entitled “Religious Authority in the Middle East: Implications for U.S. Policy.” The conference, organized by the Baker Institute Center for the Middle East, was the culmination of a survey-based project of the Middle East and North African region funded by the Henry R. Luce Foundation and led by the Baker Institute’s A.Kadir Yildirim. This report highlights key findings and themes from the conference.

Since the first reports of the coronavirus surfaced in China two months ago, Baker Institute experts have provided a range of perspectives on the impact of a growing viral outbreak. Follow the links below for their most recent commentaries, and check back for regular updates as the situation develops in the U.S. and abroad.