Research Library

The UK recently announced that it will pursue commercial arrangements with up to 20 individual U.S. states, beginning with Texas. In this brief, fellow David Gantz explores what these arrangements could achieve and the potential legal and constitutional constraints that may limit their reach.

President Biden's foreign policy is colored by both decisiveness and a realism that falls short of his idealism, with a result that draws elements of Trump's and Obama's approaches together, writes fellow Joe Barnes. Read his post on our blog.

Paris and Washington are past the immediate AUKUS crisis, but two major, related issues will remain high on Biden’s foreign policy agenda for the balance of his term, writes fellow Joe Barnes: China’s military expansion in the Pacific and the EU’s role in great power politics. Read more at the Baker Institute Blog.

With center-right President Emmanuel Macron facing off against extreme-right Marine Le Pen, what’s in store for the French presidential election next April? In a new brief, Baker Institute faculty scholar Julie Fette and William Tsai, Rice '24, examine the polls, platforms and possibilities.

Mexico’s government and auto industry have good reason to be worried about the future. International trade fellow David Gantz explains why in the Baker Institute Blog.

In this report, the authors outline the U.S. federal budget process for scientific R&D, discuss trends in federal R&D funding and provide an outlook for federal scientific R&D funding during the Biden administration.

Amid recent disputes on oil trade, "fractious Saudi-UAE relations are ... better understood as a return to the pre-2015 status quo than a unique diplomatic breach," write Jim Krane and Kristian Coates Ulrichsen.

Despite the frozen status of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and the considerable obstacles to restart them, a U.S.-led effort could help to gradually forge a “Framework Agreement for an Israeli-Palestinian Permanent Peace.” This policy brief outlines the principles that such a framework might embody, with the essential objective of two states for two peoples.

Joe Barnes explores why, in the absence of a viable alternative that does not involve an open-ended commitment in Afghanistan, President Biden’s plan to withdraw makes sense — even if it does entail potential real costs and real risks. Read his post in the Baker Institute Blog.

Read the PDF below for a report on the results of a workshop on U.S. immigration policy, hosted by the Center for the United States and Mexico and the Center for Houston's Future.