Research Library

Social distancing and stay-at-home measures provided scientists with a natural experiment to study social phenomena that hinge precisely on human mobility and contact — including criminal activity. A study by Center for the U.S. and Mexico experts and co-authors explores the relationship between COVID-19 and criminal activity in Mexico.

The tech war between the U.S. and China has come faster than predicted, writes faculty scholar Moshe Vardi. If the U.S. is to protect its technological advancements, it will need to invest in both domestic and international research talent.

In a joint letter, a group of scientists calls on U.S. policymakers and the nation's scientific communities to avoid shunning Russian scientists and academics for the actions of Russia's government in light of the invasion of Ukraine.

The recent shift toward legalization has not been enough to undo the racism endemic to U.S. cannabis policy. The authors lay out policies to improve equity and erase the racist legacy of prohibition.

An emerging perspective in U.S. public discourse claims that a buildout of renewable electricity would exacerbate supply risks, mining intensity, and import dependence. This ScienceDirect article from fellow Jim Krane and graduate student Robert Idel contends the opposite is true, demonstrating how transitioning to renewables hugely reduces the materials, mining and political risk involved compared to coal.

This article considers the implications of expanding hydroelectricity for war production and strategy using Canada, the United States and Germany during World War II as an example. The article also examines how war-time decisions structured the longer-term evolution of large technological systems: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1740022819000366

How does a country’s constitutional form of governance — specifically, if it is a presidential or parliamentary system — influence its susceptibility to a military coup? The author examines the issue in Political Science Quarterly

Global deworming programs for children were once believed to improve a child’s chances for health, growth and success in school. New research that claims to debunk the merit of such programs has set off so-called “worm wars” between investigators. The authors aim to resolve the issue through an extended comparison of findings from key economics and epidemiological studies.

The political, economic, and financial aspects of sustaining an oil blockade against China mean that even a militarily successful blockader could find its political, economic, and diplomatic position untenable well before a blockade could exert its full effects.