Experts in the News

How to explain Mexico's silence on President-elect Biden's win? Tony Payan, director of the Center for the United States and Mexico, said the reasons could be personal and strategic. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador "found a kindred spirit" in Trump's polarizing approach to governing and "he's sorry to see that go." At the same time, López Obrador could be wary of retaliation by Trump -- by closing the border, for instance -- should Mexico show support for the president-elect, Payan said. Under the Biden administration, Mexico "will not get a pass" as it has under Trump on energy and labor issues, Payan added. Biden "understands American interests, and I think many U.S. interests go through Mexico. The Biden administration will pursue those interests very systematically.”​​​​​​​ Payan is the Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies.

“The Biden administration will end the perception that the Saudi leadership enjoys near-unconditional support in the White House … with a view to reframing it around goals that serve both the U.S. and Saudi interests,” said Middle East fellow Kristian Ulrichsen.

"Though we cannot yet definitively say whether the pandemic is associated with an increase in suicide attempts, available evidence suggests that we should not rule it out," wrote health policy researcher Patrick Tennant.

Political science fellow Mark Jones explained that some Texas Democrats are ecstatic that Trump will be out of the Oval Office, but unhappy to lose him as a campaign target.

Health economics fellow Vivian Ho joined a coalition of health policy experts throughout Texas to encourage state legislators to expand Medicaid in the next legislative session.