NEWS
Dec 09, 2012 - LEADERS GATHER FOR 5TH ANNUAL WORLD POLICY CONFERENCE
Founding director Ambassador Edward Djerejian, in Cannes for the 2012 meeting of the World Policy Conference, is interviewed by WPC-TV, above, about the turmoil in Syria, the Arab Awakening, and the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace. "I am a fervent advocate of the two-state solution," said Djerejian. "If Israel as it defines itself as a democratic Jewish state wants to be so, there must be a two-state solution. I do not think that Israel can preserve its democratic and Jewish identity in a one-state solution." From a demographic standpoint, "the Palestinian Arab population is simply multiplying at a much higher rate than the Jewish population, and over the years, the Jewish population will become more and more a minority in this one-state solution," Djerejian said. Another important factor is technology. "With the advancement of technology and weapons of mass destruction, it is just too much of a gamble to live in a constant state of nonpeace with your neighbors." Finally, there is the matter of ideology, Djerjeian said. "As long as the Palestinian issue is not resolved, it will be used and exploited by extremists for their own ends ... I think any Israeli prime minister should have as his or her first urgent priority to get a two-state solution sooner rather than later."
Dec 09, 2012 - FAREED ZAKARIA: AN EXTENDED CNN INTERVIEW WITH JAMES A. BAKER, III
Honorary chair James A. Baker, III, discussed the national debt, the Middle East, and the future of the Republican Party in a wide-ranging interview Sunday (Dec. 9) with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. As the fiscal cliff approaches, it’s crucial for the top levels of both parties to have “a serious, confidential, substantial negotiation” on the budget, Baker said. The parties ought to agree that everything from entitlements to defense spending is on the table, and that the talks will be held “in confidence behind closed doors … It makes it extraordinarily difficult to try to do it in the public domain because they’re just jousting with each other — each side is repeating its campaign talking points,” Baker said. If taxes are raised as part of a grand bargain, “you could provide that they would be rescinded automatically in the event that you exceeded [an agreed-to] cap on spending-to-GDP,” he added. Looking ahead to the future of the Republican Party, Baker said that “it’s important that we be seen to be the party of hope, optimism and opportunity instead of the party of doom and gloom … We need to appeal to those voter groups that we had trouble with. We need to appeal to all minority voters and particularly Hispanic and Asian voters. We need to have a credible and comprehensive immigration plan that we can put forth out there. We need to talk about urban issues and face the fact that we didn't get the votes we needed from urban areas. We didn’t get the votes and don’t get the votes we need from women. Therefore, we need to focus on our economic conservatism more than our social conservatism, because a lot of those issues cut against us in the general election.” Baker also discussed the turmoil in the Middle East, noting that President Obama is under increasing pressure to intervene militarily in Syria. “That would be the worst thing in the world we can do, in my opinion,” Baker said. “We should support the Syrian opposition politically, diplomatically and economically, but not militarily because that’s a slippery slope once you get into it … the policy the administration is following in Syria is absolutely the right policy to follow. I think the American people are going to be demand more and more that there be a significant national interest involved before we engage militarily around the world.” However, if the administration’s approach to Iran — which includes covert actions and sanctions that Baker called “absolutely the right policy” — does not prevent Iran from expanding its nuclear program, “we have to do what we have to do,” Baker said. “We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon — not because of the threat so much to Israel, the United States or our moderate allies in the region, but because of the proliferation that will cause. Everybody will then have to have a weapon, and they've got the capability financially and scientifically of acquiring it.”
Dec 07, 2012 - WEIGHING SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN
Founding director Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian is a signatory to a
recently released report that aims to offer an objective, nonpartisan
analysis of the benefits and costs of international sanctions against Iran. In a preface to the report, the signatories — former officials of U.S. government and professionals in U.S. national security — write that they believe the report "remains consistent with U.S. policy to maintain pressure on Iran through sanctions while holding open the possibility of reaching a political solution, and that it does not rule out the use of military force as a last resort to constrain Iran from building a nuclear weapon." The report is published by The Iran Project, a nongovernmental organization that seeks to improve official contacts between the United States and Iranian governments. 
"Weighing the Benefits and Costs of International Sanctions Against Iran," released Dec. 3, 2012, by The Iran Project."Executive Summary: Weighing the Benefits and Costs of International Sanctions Against Iran," released Dec. 3, 2012."Weighing Benefits and Costs of Military Action Against Iran," released Sept. 20, 2012, by The Iran Project. Ambassador Djerejian is a signatory.
Dec 07, 2012 - JAMES A. BAKER, III, ON SYRIA, U.S. DEBT
In a CBS interview on Dec. 7, The Honorable James A. Baker, III, discussed possible U.S. military intervention in Syria and America's crippling national debt. "I happen to be one who doesn’t think we ought to be involved militarily in that country," Baker said. "I think the American people are tired of military involvement in that part of the world … our forces are stretched pretty thin, we’re a broke country." "Anything we can do politically, diplomatically and economically we should do to bring about a regime change," Baker said. "We ought to be quite wary and leery of military involvement, which has a way of becoming a slippery slope. That is the policy that I think the administration is following and so far, at least, I agree with that policy." With the fiscal cliff looming ahead, Baker said he is encouraged to hear overnight that President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner have decided to negotiate quietly and confidentially. Doing so will provide both the freedom to "give and take and put things on the table" without fear it will be used politically against them, Baker said. "We need something in the nature of a grand bargain along the lines of the Simpson-Bowles or Domenici-Rivlin [proposal] -- something that has everything on the table and that cuts spending and increases revenue," the former secretary of treasury said. "The American people are so tired of the political posturing and the negotiating in public to score political points. It's time to get serious.The election is over. It’s time to do what the country needs badly to have done."
Dec 05, 2012 - Viewpoints: Prescription drug abuse
The drugs of choice for an increasing number of Americans are
prescription painkillers. Nowhere is the problem more apparent than
Houston, where the renowned medical center area has become “a national hotspot for prescription drug abuse,”
according to a recent story in the Houston Chronicle. As policymakers grapple with how to address this growing problem — including a quiet reassessment of U.S. policies that focus on keeping illegal drugs out of the country — drug policy experts at the Baker Institute ask: What does rising prescription drug abuse mean for the “war on drugs”? Click through to posts below to read the Baker Institute Viewpoints prescription drug abuse series: Dec. 3, 2012 - "What does rising prescription drug abuse mean for the war on drugs?" by Gary Hale, nonresident drug policy fellow. Dec. 4, 2012 - "Treating addiction as a public health issue, not a crime" by Tony Payan, visiting Baker Institute Scholar for Immigration Studies. Dec. 5, 2012 - "U.S. pill abuse may not make cartels completely irrelevant" by Nathan Jones, Alfred C. Glassell III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy.
Dec 04, 2012 - WHO WILL CARE FOR FAMILY CAREGIVERS?
Research by the Baylor College of Medicine's Kyler Godwin and Mark Kunik
underscores the importance of supporting the needs of family
caregivers, the Health Policy Forum reports.
Nov 29, 2012 - SCHOLARLY POV
In a recent ABC News/Yahoo! interview with Christiane Armanpour, senior fellow in space policy George Abbey reflected on the state of the U.S. space program 50 years after President John F. Kennedy challenged America to put a man on the moon. "NASA is right now is struggling," said Abbey, the former director of the Johnson Space Center. "They are developing a vehicle that will hopefully go beyond Earth orbit, but [the design] returns to a capsule much like we flew before." On the other hand, the space program has evolved to the point that nations around the world are "working together for a common good to really accomplish great things scientifically in space."
Nov 26, 2012 - CHANGES IN U.S. DIPLOMACY
Ongoing violence, among other issues, has changed the nature of U.S. diplomacy overseas. Minnesota Public Radio recently discussed the changes, and what they mean for the future, with Ambassador Edward Djerejian and New York Times writer Robert Worth. Also this week, two commentators noted that a 1992 speech by Djerejian, then an assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, has resonance in Egypt today. In what is known as the Meridian House speech, Djerejian expressed concern that some would use
democratic elections to come to power, then revert to autocratic rule. Instead of one man, one vote, he said,
there are those who want "one man, one vote, one time." "Those who are prepared to take specific steps toward free elections,
creating independent judiciary, promoting the rule of law, reducing
restrictions on the press, respecting the rights of minorities, and
guaranteeing individual rights will find us ready to recognize and
support their efforts, just as those moving in the opposite direction
will find us ready to speak candidly and act accordingly," Djerejian
said. Twenty years later, President Mohammed Morsi
of Egypt "would do well to survey America’s definition of the
characteristics of extremist groups" as described by the ambassador, Philip Whitfield wrote in a Nov. 26, 2012, commentary in the Daily News Egypt. Additional links to Ambassador Djerejian's media interviews on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are here and here. Links to Djerejian's media interviews on Syria's prospects and U.S. policy ramifications are here. The ambassador has also provided commentary on the outlook for the broader region, including Iran and the Middle East protests.
Meridian House Speech.
Nov 21, 2012 - WHICH PARTY BEST MIRRORS TEXAS?
Political science fellow Mark P. Jones examines the stark contrast in the ethnic/racial profiles of the Republican and Democratic delegations in the 150-member Texas House of Representatives, which convenes in Austin on Jan. 8. Read his analysis in the Baker Institute Blog.
Nov 17, 2012 - SCHOLARLY POV
Expectations were high that a new, vigorous Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) would be introduced at the recent conclusion of the 18th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Instead, two 50-somethings and five 60-somethings, many of them party stalwarts with strong ties to a former party leader, were named to the all important decision-making body. This means that "any real transition in leadership, and vigorous political reforms to accompany them, is likely going to have to wait until 2017, when the five elder 'chaperones' on the PBSC are required to finally retire and let the 'next generation' take charge," writes Steve Lewis, C.V. Starr Transnational China Fellow, in CNN's GPS blog. Read Lewis' Nov. 16, 2012, analysis in "China’s leadership: Out with the old, in with the old."
Nov 16, 2012 - HOW TO GET A GRAND BARGAIN
In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed on America's financial future, honorary chair James A. Baker, III, discusses how Congress might reach a workable "grand bargain." First, legislators should postpone all elements of the Jan. 1 fiscal cliff — spending cuts, revenue increases and the debt limit — until March 31, 2013. This will give Congress "enough time to negotiate a responsible compromise," he says. Baker also proposes a mechanism guaranteeing that spending cuts actually follow tax increases. Read more about Baker's approach to a "fiscal cliff" deal in the Nov. 15, 2012, Wall Street Journal op-ed, “How to get a grand bargain.” Subscription required.
Nov 13, 2012 - SCHOLARLY POV
Washington and Colorado on Election Day became the first two U.S. states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. How will this development affect Mexico? Drug policy postdoctoral fellow Nathan Jones explores the issue in the Baker Institute Blog, writing that "in the short-term, these initiatives will probably not have a large
impact, though over the long-term the effects could significantly weaken
Mexico’s cartels." The legalization debate has entered the mainstream, he adds. "Legalization advocates can no longer be written
off as occupying a fringe position. This shift in the debate will
likely lead to the passage of similar legislation in other states and
may be important for Mexico as the laws change the marijuana markets and
deny profits to cartels." Read "Potential impact on Mexico of U.S. marijuana initiatives," in the Nov. 9, 2012, Baker Institute Blog.
Nov 13, 2012 - A CONVERSATION WITH NY TIMES COLUMNIST THOMAS FRIEDMAN
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently visited the Baker Institute for a lunch-hour talk that drew more than 200 Rice students to Doré Commons. Friedman discussed everything from the economy to China in a conversation with founding director Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian and during a question-and-answer session with the audience.
On job prospects for students, Friedman said that "the central most important socioeconomic fact of our time is that 'average' is officially over. The high wage, middle-skill job is rapidly disappearing ... The world is only interested in what you can do with what you know relative to someone else anywhere on the planet."
Watch the full video of Friedman's Nov. 12, 2012, appearance, above.
Nov 06, 2012 - RULE OF LAW IN WORLD AFFAIRS
The James A. Baker III Chair in the Rule of Law and World Affairs at The University of Texas Law School brings to the UT campus public figures who have done significant work at the intersection of international policy and the law.
During an introduction for a recent speaker — U.S. Sen. John Kerry — Baker Institute honorary chair James A. Baker, III, noted that the Massachusetts Democrat flew to Texas, “this very, very red state … only four days before Election Day … in the spirit of bipartisanship that has marked his 26 years in the United States Senate, a spirit of bipartisanship that is sorely lacking in most of Washington today.”
Watch the Nov. 2, 2012, video above for the full introduction and Kerry’s lecture on promoting the rule of law in the Middle East at a time of transition; Iran and the utility of multilateral sanctions; and the role of treaties in keeping Americans safe and America secure.
Nov 05, 2012 - U.S. SUBSIDIES FOR NATURAL GAS BIG RIGS?
Natural gas seems poised to make dramatic inroads into the long-haul truck transportation sector, given a powerful combination of high diesel prices, the construction of a nationwide network of natural gas stations, and major manufacturers eagerly producing big rigs capable of running on natural gas. A widespread shift to natural gas would have a substantial impact on America’s oil consumption: 18-wheelers transport goods all around the country, and they consumed about 1.9 million barrels a day of oil in 2010. Should the federal government try to get involved, either to make this future more likely or hasten its arrival? James Coan, Center for Energy Studies research associate, explores the issue in the Nov. 2, 2012, Baker Institute Blog. Read "Should the federal government subsidize natural gas 18-wheelers?"
Nov 05, 2012 - Viewpoints: Kingpin strategies
In October 2012, Mexico's navy announced the death of Heriberto Lazcano, the leader of Mexico’s violent Zetas drug cartel, during a firefight with the marines. The slaying was hailed as a significant victory for the government of President Felipe Calderón, which has made the elimination of top cartel leaders a priority in its fight against organized crime. But will a strategy to target drug kingpins pay off in the long-term? Baker Institute fellows weighed the pros and cons of the approach in a five-day installment of the Baker Institute Viewpoints series, a blog feature that offers an array of views on a single issue. Oct. 24, 2012 - "Targeting criminals, not crimes: The kingpin strategy works," by Gary Hale, nonresident fellow in drug policy. Oct. 25, 2012 - "Strategy to target drug kingpins a tactic, not a solution," by Chris Bronk, fellow in information technology policy. Oct. 26, 2012 - "Eliminate root causes of violence to 'manage' drug cartels," by Nathan Jones, Alfred C. Glassell III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy. Oct. 29, 2012 - "The kingpin strategy: A piece of a much larger puzzle," by Tony Payan, visiting Baker Institute Scholar for Immigration and Border Studies. Oct. 30, 2012 - "Obama’s precarious drone affair," by Andrew Bowen, visiting scholar for the Middle East.
Oct 31, 2012 - SCHOLARLY POV
Straight-ticket voters who bypass the referendums at the bottom of the
ballot may be interested in a recent Baker Institute Blog post by Robert Stein,
fellow in urban politics. Stein analyzed the narrow victory of
Houston's 2010 drainage fee referendum and concluded the proposal would
have lost, had straight-ticket voters in precincts that defeated the
referendum weighed in. Read "Voting is more than just showing up at the polls" in the Oct. 26, 2012, Baker Institute Blog.
Oct 24, 2012 - SCHOLARLY POV
President Barack Obama asserts that Gov. Mitt Romney’s tax plan is a return to the failed policies of George W. Bush's administration. But “it is the president’s tax plan that is most similar to the Bush-era policies, while Romney proposes to enact a tax reform similar to the bipartisan plan put forth by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (the debt commission),” writes John Diamond, Edward A. and Hermena Hancock Kelly Fellow in Public Finance, in a recent blog for The Hill. Read Diamond’s analysis, “On taxes, Obama sticks to much of Bush playbook," in the Oct. 24, 2012, Congress Blog.
Oct 23, 2012 - CIVIL DISCOURSE AND A GRAND BARGAIN
Baker Institute honorary chair James A. Baker, III, recently spoke at the Woodrow Wilson Center about the massive U.S. national debt and the need to restore comity to our political debate. “Washington has become a place where bipartisanship and compromise are dirty words,” Baker said. “That’s tragic. That’s not the way the founders intended that we govern.” “Bipartisanship facilitates the passage of politically difficult but necessary legislation. Bipartisanship fosters continuity of government by reducing the chance that policies will be reversed when the other party comes to power.” Baker also outlined principles of a “grand bargain” — or broad bipartisan agreement — that addresses the national debt. Watch the Oct. 23, 2012, video of “Civil Discourse and a Grand Bargain,” part of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Lee Hamilton Lecture Series, below.
Oct 18, 2012 - NASA AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
In an Oct. 15, 2012, Baker Institute policy report, Kirstin Matthews, fellow in science and technology policy; Brent Carey, graduate intern; Kenneth Evans, graduate intern; and Padraig Moloney, Ph.D., graduate intern, examine the challenges NASA has faced in funding science
research. Using nanotechnology as a case study, the authors describe the
agency's lack of continuity and long-term strategic planning in research and
development (R&D) — and assert NASA's future could lie in focused R&D of new technologies. Setting specific objectives for basic research and aligning the objectives with a nationally recognized plan for space exploration could help to stabilize congressional appropriations for NASA in the long-term, they write. At home, reinvesting in basic sciences could help find a new role for the Johnson Space Center after the termination of the shuttle program. Read "NASA's Relationship with Nanotechnology: Past, Present, and Future Challenges."
