Research Library

On March 28, 2017, Energy Dialogues organized an event co-hosted with Shell at the Shell Woodcreek Campus in west Houston in which participants from across the oil and gas sector engaged in discussions that centered on three themes: economy, environment, and coalition-building. This report summarizes the day's discussions.

To gain public support for Mexico’s energy reforms, the government promised a future of low gas prices. The author documents the fallout when gas prices instead shot up 20 percent. 

Social media is becoming more and more a part of the daily political process. From a political science perspective, the ability to capture the ideology of elites and citizens using a common platform greatly helps in answering a very important question: which party’s ideological position is closest to that of its supporters, on a left-right ideology scale? Research scholar Abdullah Aydogan analyzes the tweets of four major Turkish political parties to answer this question in a post for the Baker Institute Blog.

Fellows Gabriel Collins and Jim Krane argue in this issue brief that despite changes in U.S.-Persian Gulf trade relations, the U.S. retains an enduring interest in preserving political stability and securing oil flows from the region.

Tony Payan, director of the Baker Institute Mexico Center, testified on transnational labor flows and commerce at an April 10, 2017, hearing of the Texas House Committee on International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs.

Brazil's economy is among those most closed to foreign trade. Debate on trade policy has returned to the political agenda, but domestic and international circumstances do not currently favor reform. This brief discusses the outlook for trade policy reform in Brazil during President Michel Temer's term and the challenges that will be faced by any succeeding government.

China Studies fellow Steve Lewis offers an approach to increase and strengthen the number of “contact points” between the Trump administration and the future leadership of China.

Since early 2014, Brazil has been in the midst of a political and economic crisis characterized by the impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff, steadily worsening economic conditions, and an investigation into widespread corruption within the government and Petrobras, the state-owned oil company. Experts from the Latin America Initiative analyze different aspects of the current situation in the issue briefs listed below.

Since the first quarter of 2014, Brazil has been living in crisis mode as the result of a severe economic crisis in conjunction with an investigation into widespread corruption that has penetrated the highest offices in the government. Although the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff in 2016 did offer some hope for recovery, recent events demonstrate that Brazil's troubles are still ongoing. Contributing expert Sergio Fausto analyzes the main factors leading to this crisis and surveys the current economic and political situation.

James A. Baker, III, and George P. Shultz — both former secretaries of state and Treasury secretaries — offer "A Conservative Answer to Climate Change" in a commentary for The Wall Street Journal.