NEWS
May 21, 2013 - Has the war on drugs undermined civil liberties?
Legal scholars, activists, academics and law enforcement have all questioned the impact of the drug war on U.S. civil liberties. Are our privacy rights and the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, for instance, fully protected when the government complies with the law in the investigation, prosecution and punishment for possession of marijuana? In a four-part Baker Institute Viewpoints series, we ask: Has the war on drugs undermined civil liberties? May 16, 2013 — "Will legalizing marijuana improve civil liberties?" May 17, 2013 — "How the war on drugs has infringed on U.S. civil liberties"
May 21, 2013 - Tony Blair on effective governance in Africa
Africa has made real economic progress in recent years — so much so that governance, not aid, is now the challenge, said former prime minister Tony Blair at a May 21 address at the Baker Institute. “What is going to make the real difference is the ability of governments in developing countries to get things done,” he said. To support Africa’s efforts to effectively govern, Blair in 2008 founded the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI), which currently works in seven African nations. AGI teams work shoulder-to-shoulder with the nations’ presidents and local residents "to help the governments prioritize, get the right policy, and get the right personnel in the right places," Blair said. The organization's work in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea, Malawi and South Sudan focuses on three main areas: electricity, infrastructure and quality private sector investment. Everything is possible with electricity, but very little is possible without it, Blair noted. Infrastructure is crucial because although Africa has great agricultural potential, the food is wasted — roads leading to ports and markets don’t exist. Quality private investment is needed in an environment where private funding can arrive in a random way from sometimes dubious sources, Blair has said. “If you get these three things right, everything else is manageable.” AGI’s work in Africa is not just a solid moral cause, Blair said. “It’s also an act of enlightened self-interest.” “I don’t know what will happen to the continent of Africa over the next [several decades], but I do know the population will double. Whether the countries are on their feet with functioning economies is not going to be an issue simply for them, but an issue for us also."
May 21, 2013 - International Space Medicine Summit 2013
As man dreams of returning to the moon, or even landing on Mars, much more research is needed to prevent or mitigate the medical, psychological and biomedical challenges faced by spacefarers. For the past seven years, the International Space Medicine Summit (ISMS), hosted by the Baker Institute and Baylor College of Medicine, has brought together the world's leading experts to discuss such research as well as ways to change policies that hinder international collaboration. Watch video of Baker's address above. Additional presentations and discussions at ISMS 2013 are available here. Scroll to the bottom of the page for the complete list.
This year, NASA administrator Charles F. Bolden joined Baker Institute founding chair James A. Baker, III, as well as space biomedical scientists, engineers, astronauts, cosmonauts and educators for the May 16-19 conference at the Baker Institute.
In a keynote address, Baker spoke of the need for international cooperation in an increasingly globalized landscape. "As we head into the future, I think that we need to build on the kinds of international relationships that have the potential for international cooperation," he said. "Developing cooperative efforts for further space exploration will allow us to save on the cost of space exploration, just as it will allow other countries to save as well. It can allow us to free our imaginations and harness our ingenuity to do bigger and better things. Then perhaps we can all explore the universe together, far beyond Earth's orbit and far beyond the moon."
May 17, 2013 - DRUG SENTENCING
In an article for Texas Monthly, drug policy fellow William Martin describes how a Republican judge from Harris County, with the support of the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation and the left-leaning Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, is working with Democratic lawmakers to reduce the sentences for defendants arrested with trace amounts of illegal drugs. But, Martin writes, it takes more than bipartisanship to change people's views on the state's drug laws. Read "The policy and politics of drug sentencing" in the May 6, 2013, Texas Monthly.
May 17, 2013 - THE G20'S SECRET SHAME
Many think that neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are exclusive to destabilized countries
such as South Sudan, Somalia or Haiti, but recent analysis shows that most of the world’s NTDs paradoxically
occur in major G20 countries. As the G20 leaders prepare to meet in Russia this fall, Baker Institute fellow in disease and poverty Peter Hotez urges them to put this issue on their agenda and "aggressively implement programs of treatment and prevention." Such efforts are not expensive and in most cases so cheap
that they would not require overseas development assistance, Hotez writes in a May 17 Global Post commentary. "For
example, elephantiasis, hookworm infection, and food-borne trematode
infections — mostly occurring in G20 countries — could be treated
through mass drug administration using a packet of pills mostly donated
by Pharma and costing less than 50 cents per person to administer
annually," he says. Hotez believes these low-cost treatments are not widely implemented because "NTDs only affect the profoundly poor —
marginalized people with no voice and largely hidden from view." If G20 countries take ownership of the problem, "I estimate that the world could see a reduction in up to three-quarters of the world’s most fearsome NTDs."
May 15, 2013 - PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES OF TEXAS
Texas is now the the only state to have three presidential libraries.
The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Southern Methodist University opened its doors to the public on May 1. The other two centers are the George Bush Presidential Library and
Museum at Texas A&M University in College Station and the LBJ
Presidential Library at the University of Texas in Austin. But what is a presidential library and what purpose does it serve? On May 14, the directors of the three presidential
libraries in Texas met at the Baker Institute to discuss the role
of their institutions and the presidents they represent. The discussion was moderated by Baker
Institute founding director Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian. The forum was the first of a three-part, multi-city series "Lone Star
Treasures: The Presidential Libraries of Texas," sponsored by the Texas
Tribune, in which the directors will discuss how presidential libraries
preserve history, facilitate research and education, and contribute to
their communities through public programs and special events. Watch a video of the Baker Institute event above.
May 14, 2013 - SCHOLARLY POV
May 13, 2013 - TAX REFORM: A WAY FORWARD
Earlier this year, the Baker Institute published a set of policy recommendations that aim to provide guidance to President Obama on a range of significant public policy issues, from energy to tax reform. Within each issue area, institute fellows and scholars offer an analytic overview of opportunities, challenges and possible solutions. We are highlighting each of the essays in a series of posts in this space. This week, John Diamond, Edward A. and Hermena Hancock Kelly Fellow in Public Finance, and George Zodrow, Baker Institute Rice scholar and Allyn R. and Gladys M. Cline Chair of Economics at Rice University, present an outline for fundamental reform of both the individual and corporate income tax systems. In order to help solve the nation's looming fiscal problems and to prevent an economic recession in the near term, they recommend specific criteria for fundamental tax reform packages, including revenue neutrality, economic efficiency and a favorable environment for foreign investment. 
"Moving Forward With Tax Reform."
May 07, 2013 - STUDENT POV
Five years ago, Rice sophomore and Baker Institute intern Shannon McNamara started SHARE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering girls in Africa through education. Since then, she has traveled to Tanzania every summer, having raised funds during the school year to create reading programs for girls, build libraries in schools, provide schools with electricity, and give deserving girls scholarships to secondary school. The program has now donated more than 33,000 books to students in three African countries. Recently, Forbes magazine interviewed McNamara about SHARE for a series called “The Fixer,” which highlights problems being solved by a new generation of women. The program has been recognized by the Obama administration, which in 2011 invited McNamara to deliver an address at the White House for an International Woman’s Day 100th anniversary celebration hosted by Michelle Obama.
Shannon has also received the Daily Point of Light Award, a program established by President George H.W. Bush, and blogged about her experiences in Tanzania for a White House website called “Winning the Future: President Obama and Young Americans.” McNamara, now 19, is a Lovett College resident from New Jersey.
May 06, 2013 - SYRIA AT THE CROSSROADS
There is growing concern in the United States that if the bloody struggle for power in Syria continues unabated, the sectarian-ethnic polarizations of the country will deepen, prospects for political solution will recede and radical groups such as al-Nusra Front will gain ascendancy. Syria, “could become fragmented along confessional and religious line” said Baker Institute founding director Ambassador Edward Djerejian in a recent interview with Al Arabiya.
May 01, 2013 - SYRIA'S CHEMICAL WEAPONS
In a recent blog for The Majalla, Middle East scholar Andrew Bowen and research associate Dina Shahrokhi discuss President Obama's options following reports the Syrian regime may have used chemical weapons against its own people. Possibilities include arming vetted members of the FSA, enforcing a no-fly zone to neutralize the regime's air force, securing and destroying Syria's stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and, working closely with Russia, taking further action to foster a political solution to the conflict. "Obama’s response will have the strongest impact if his actions can support efforts to bring President Assad and his opponents to the table for negotiations," Bowen and Shahrokhi write. Read "Going Over the Red Line" in the May 1, 2013, edition of The Majalla.
Apr 30, 2013 - GLOBAL ECONOMIC MARKETS
Earlier this year, the Baker Institute published a set of policy recommendations that aim to provide guidance to President Obama on a range of significant public policy issues, from energy to tax reform. Within each issue area, institute fellows and scholars offer an analytic overview of opportunities, challenges and possible solutions. "Fostering a cooperative relationship with these rising powers during the
next four years will pay dividends for the governance of the
international financial system for years to come," he writes. Read more in
We will be highlighting each of the essays in a series of posts in this space. This week Russell Green, Will Clayton Fellow in International Economics, considers a productive
strategy for the U.S. in light of international financial markets that will remain at the mercy of
developments in the Eurozone crisis for at least 2013. Green suggests shoring up
defenses against a major crisis, while focusing on longer-term
developments, "namely the rise of emerging market economies as the
dominant sources of global growth over the next several decades.""U.S. Economic Diplomacy: Adapting to Shifts in Global Economic Powers."
Apr 30, 2013 - CYBER CRIMES
In a new Baker Institute white paper, information technology policy fellow Chris Bronk considers the factors that affect an organization's ability to secure its digital information from theft, and offers guidance on rethinking digital security measures. Instead of responding to a cyberattack after the fact, Bronk suggests identifying and protecting the company's most valuable digital information before hackers attempt to compromise it. Read more about the issue in “Risk-intelligent Governance in the Age of Cyberthreats."
Apr 29, 2013 - FUELING GEOPOLITICS
Baker Institute Rice scholar Mahmoud A. El-Gamal recently joined a panel of experts on Al Jazeera to explore the shifting geopolitics of oil. "Thanks to the nationalization of oil reserves around the world, [western oil giants] are competing with mega players such as the National Iranian Oil Company, China's CNPC, Russia’s Gazprom and their counterparts in Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia," Al Jazeera writes. "Further disrupting the old order is the ongoing financialization of oil markets with oil speculations, sending prices on a roller coaster ride, decoupled from the dictates of actual supply and demand … Will the race for resources between the U.S. and China drive a new arms race? Are we facing a future of scarcity, or are new technologies kick-starting a long-term revolution in supply?" View video of the April 20, 2013, panel discussion of these issues on the Al Jazeera website. El-Gamal is a professor in the Department of Economics at Rice University, where he
also holds the endowed Chair in Islamic Economics, Finance and
Management.
Apr 24, 2013 - PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY
Baker Institute honorary chair James A. Baker, III, is in Dallas this week for the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Southern Methodist University. The event, attended by the five living presidents, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and world dignitaries, precedes the May 1 public opening of the library. The three-story, 226,000-square-foot Bush Center holds more than 70 million pages of paper records, 43,000 artifacts, 200 million emails and four million digital photographs. Texas is now the the only state to have three presidential libraries. The other two centers are the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University in College Station and the LBJ Presidential Library at the University of Texas in Austin. But what is a presidential library and what purpose does it serve? On May 14 at 7 p.m., the directors of the three presidential libraries in Texas will meet at the Baker Institute to discuss the role of their institutions and the presidents they represent. The discussion, which is free and open to the public, will be moderated by Baker Institute founding director Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian. The forum is the first of a three-part, multi-city series "Lone Star Treasures: The Presidential Libraries of Texas," sponsored by the Texas Tribune, in which the directors will discuss how presidential libraries preserve history, facilitate research and education, and contribute to their communities through public programs and special events. Click here to learn more about the Baker Institute event.
Apr 22, 2013 - AMB. DJEREJIAN IN DC
Last week, Baker Institute founding director Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian, accompanied by Middle East scholar Andrew Bowen, traveled to Washington, D.C., to discuss the institute’s recent reports on U.S. policy toward Syria and Israeli-Palestinian negotiations with top policymakers at the State Department and local think tanks. Ambassador Djerejian joined Marwan Muasher, vice president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, for a conversation on the Baker Institute report “Re-engaging the Israelis and the Palestinians: Why an American Role in Initiating Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations in Necessary and How It Can Be Accomplished.” Audio of their remarks and the audience Q&A can be found here.
Ambassador Djerejian also presented on the crisis in Syria at the Middle East Institute with Bowen. Djerejian and Bowen outlined and elaborated on recommendations for U.S. policy in Syria detailed in their recent report, "Syria at the Crossroads: United States Policy and Recommendations for the Way Forward." They addressed the current situation and actions for a more forward-leaning U.S. approach.
Syria at the Crossroads: U.S. Policy and Recommendations for the Way Forward," by Edward P. Djerejian and Andrew Bowen.
Apr 22, 2013 - BALANCING U.S. INTERESTS ABROAD
Earlier this year, the Baker Institute published a set of policy
recommendations that aim to provide guidance to President Obama on a range of significant public policy issues, from energy to tax reform. Within each issue area,
institute fellows and scholars offer an analytic overview of opportunities, challenges and possible
solutions. The Baker Institute is highlighting each of the essays in a series of
posts in this space. This week, Joe Barnes, Bonner Means Baker Fellow, urges the president to "adopt a balancing strategy" in foreign policy that "reduces unnecessary commitments and enhances our flexibility." Such an approach recognizes that the "world is shifting — slowly but inexorably — toward a multi-polar system," Barnes writes. "The United States will continue to be the most powerful country in the world for the foreseeable future. But we will not be able to regain the unique position we had in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War. Other countries, notably China, will be seeking a greater role in international affairs."
Apr 11, 2013 - CORRECTING NASA'S COURSE
Earlier this year, the Baker Institute published a set of policy recommendations that aim to provide guidance to President Obama on topics ranging from energy to health care. Within each issue area, institute fellows and scholars describe the current circumstances and offer an analytic overview of opportunities, challenges and possible solutions. The Baker Institute will highlight each of the essays in a series of posts in this space. The first, by space policy fellow and former NASA Johnson Space Center director George Abbey, examines the effect on NASA of budget cuts and the end of the shuttle program. Abbey recommends a renewed focus on aerospace research and development, as well as strengthening collaborations with our international partners in space.
Apr 08, 2013 - Baker, Shultz to lead U.S. delegation at Margaret Thatcher funeral
President Obama today announced that former secretaries of state James A. Baker, III, and George Shultz will lead the U.S. delegation to attend the funeral of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The White House news release follows: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Honorable Louis Susman, former Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ######### “The United Kingdom lost a strong leader, the United States lost a great friend and the world lost a powerful voice today with the passing of Margaret Thatcher. Mikhail Gorbachev
rightly called her the ‘Iron Lady,’ and she was that, correcting her country’s labor woes and implementing a resolute vision that helped lead to the peaceful end of the Cold War. She could charm and persuade her adversaries whenever possible, but also knew how to cower them when needed. Margaret Thatcher was an extraordinary leader who led by example, a strong prime minister who was superb in dealing with the intersection of politics and public policy.”
April 15, 2013
President Obama Announces Presidential Delegation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Attend the Funeral of Baroness Margaret Thatcher
President Barack Obama today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to attend the Funeral of Baroness Margaret Thatcher.
The Honorable George Shultz, former Secretary of State, and The Honorable James A. Baker, III, former Secretary of State, will lead the delegation.
Members of the Presidential Delegation:
The Honorable Barbara Stephenson, Charge d’Affaires to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Department of State
Apr 05, 2013 - SYRIA'S DEEPENING CIVIL WAR
In an April 5, 2013, post in Foreign Policy, Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian and Middle East scholar Andrew Bowen explain why military assistance and a coordinated U.S. strategy of capacity building within the Syrian opposition can bring "measurable results and reinforce international efforts to find a
political solution to the crisis" in the embattled country. Read "A coordinated U.S. strategy on Syria" in Foreign Policy online.
