Research Library

Aside from the massive cost of constructing a physical barrier along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, factors such as private and tribal land ownership and the impact on the environment must be taken into account.

Mexico is gradually laying the foundation for an oil and gas sector where private—along with some state-owned—international companies are taking central stage. However, authorities should not ignore the necessity of developing a domestic oil and gas sector, writes Adrian Duhalt in a post for the Baker Institute blog.

Media reports that Pemex, Mexico's state-owned petroleum company, is looking for buyers for its fertilizer subsidiary may indicate that it is seeking to scale down operations by selling assets and, perhaps more importantly, to withdraw from an economic activity seen as strategic in reducing Mexico´s dependency on imports of basic staples such as corn.

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?

In this blog post, Mexico Center director Tony Payan discusses the results of Mexico's June 5 election and what they mean for the country's 2018 presidential election.

Middle East fellow Kristian Coates Ulrichsen analyzes recent government shuffles in the United Arab Emirates.

Though drops in oil prices stand to impact Saudi Arabia’s economic stability, the government has turned to drawing down its foreign reserves and issuing bonds to alleviate budgetary pressures and avoid drastic domestic spending cuts. Fellow for the Middle East Kristian Coates Ulrichsen writes in the Baker Institute Blog: http://bit.ly/1fKLWG9.

Qatar’s reforms have opened the floodgates of women’s opportunities in education and defined the small nation as a hub of research and higher learning within the greater Middle East. What are the implications of the abundance of highly educated women in Qatar?

Once again, the Uruguayan people, in a peaceful and civilized manner, turned out in large masses and were unhindered at the polls.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, once barred from entering the U.S., is getting a rock star welcome on his first trip here since being elected in May. “Am I the only India follower who is bored with Modi’s spectacle of a U.S. visit?” asks international economics fellow Russell Green. “The glitz is fun, but I am an economic policy wonk, and from my perspective, there is little to capture the imagination.”