On September 22, 1980, Saddam Hussein initiated what became one of the longest wars of the twentieth century — a war of attrition between Iran and Iraq that finally ended in August 1988. Fellow Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar examines the domestic causes of the Iran–Iraq War, delving into secret discussions among Iranian political and military elites during the conflict, their analyses of their own performance on the battlefield, and their revealing public disputes and blame game decades later.
Research scholar Abdullah Aydogan explores to what extent would the spread of right-wing populism in the West may influence the nature of civil-military relations across the world in a post for the Baker Institute blog.
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.
In a post for the Baker Institute Blog, the authors examine two associations that have been among the pillars of civil society in Tunisia and have played a key role in keeping alive a feminist, secularist discourse in favor of women’s rights in the last several decades.
The recent energy reform in Mexico is the most radical institutional change the country has experienced since the nationalization of the oil industry in 1938. The authors of this paper outline how this major reform was accomplished, examining its primary supporters and detractors, the multi-dimensional interests at play, and the negotiation strategies used. They also analyze the quality of the prior deliberation process in order to determine the degree of legitimacy of the reform.
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.
The development of the petroleum sector has been characterized by a succession of cycles of investment and expropriation that have been particularly pronounced in Latin America. This paper analyzes the causes of these cycles and the lessons that can be derived and applied during the implementation of the petroleum reform in Mexico.
Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian, director of the Baker Institute, describes the key elements of a coherent strategy for defeating ISIS, incorporating both nearer-term strategies and long-term approaches.
