Research Library

This report highlights the results from an expert survey carried out as part of a two-year research project on pluralism and inclusion in the post-Arab Spring regional landscape, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The survey generated policy-relevant responses that provide nuanced insight into key public policy challenges in Gulf countries that — Bahrain apart —did not experience significant political upheaval after 2011 but nevertheless could see economic (un)sustainability develop into major determinants of political (in)stability in the years ahead.

Patterns of charitable contributions in the U.S. and the impact of recent tax changes to charitable giving are examined. 

Mexico’s Ministry of the Interior estimates there could be 430,000 to 600,000 children and youth who are U.S. citizens but now reside in Mexico. Without the necessary documents, they become a vulnerable population without proper access to schools or social and health services. This brief explores the issues related to this population and calls for more research to be done to understand its impact.

A study comparing the community benefit expenditures of two sets of Houston hospitals leads the authors to propose strategies that can better justify the tax exemptions the institutions enjoy.

Houston and Harris County area law enforcement leaders weigh in on the need for drug policy reforms in the United States.

Postdoctoral fellow Kenneth Evans examines how President Donald Trump’s executive orders temporarily banning travelers from certain Muslim-majority nations from entering the U.S. impacted scientific research and the country’s ability to attract and retain the world’s best scientists, engineers, students and educators. Association for Women in Science magazine (p. 10-12): http://bit.ly/2sHZMRs.

Drawing upon primary documents from various Iranian communists and Islamists, this research paper questions the conventional wisdom that the Islamists' takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979 was a grassroots reaction to American policies. The author argues that competition between the Islamists and leftists instead may have been a key driver of the hostage crisis.

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.

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.