Experts in the News

Though Gov. Greg Abbott urged the Biden administration to classify Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a better approach is for the U.S. to help root out corruption in Mexico, said nonresident fellow Gary Hale. Greater cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico’s law enforcement — not military force against drug traffickers — is the best long-term solution for weakening cartels, he said. 

"My first question is: Why?" said fellow Kirstin Matthews. "I think the public is going to be concerned, and I am as well, that we're pushing forward with science without having a proper conversation about what we should or should not do." The embryos were created in part to try to find new ways to produce organs for people who need transplants, said the international team of scientists who collaborated in the work. Although the research raises a variety of concerns, it has its defenders.  

The decision to bring troops home from Afghanistan was difficult, but “sometimes in foreign policy ... there are no good solutions,” said fellow Joe Barnes. Barnes, a former U.S. diplomat, is the Baker Institute’s Bonner Means Baker Fellow.

"The oil industry is still under immense pressure," but warnings of shale's demise are overstated, said energy fellow Mark Finley. “All of the other factors matter, but not as much as what the price does. The key will be can the industry keep its cost under control as it gets back to work.”

A mix of circumstance and policy change, said fellow Tony Payan. Since 2014, irregular immigration at the southwest border has been dominated by families and children fleeing Central America to escape poverty, gang violence, poor governance, and natural disasters. The same factors are at work today – including two hurricanes that buffeted Guatemala and Honduras late last year and are likely causing increased emigration from the two countries. Add to those factors the rebounding American economy, and the U.S. can appear like a particular land of promise for those in Central America continuing to shoulder the economic burden of COVID-19, said Payan.