Research Library

In its primacy over trade matters under the U.S. Constitution, Congress has broad authority over new and existing trade agreements and could seek to block a "modernized" NAFTA that excludes Canada.  Whether Congress has the political will or the votes to do so remains to be seen.

Corruption is a complex social, political and institutional problem that is difficult to define. This brief describes the challenges involved in defining, understanding and measuring corruption and evaluates the case study of Mexico, where corruption has increased in recent years, to illustrate these complexities.

In a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine, nonresident scholar Kevin Erickson — an assistant professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine — and his co-authors examined associations between dialysis facility performance and patient experience measures as well as patient, facility and geographic characteristics:

The toll of Lebanon's dual governance system weighs heavily on the state and its governance structure. The author examines the current need to formalize the country's informal senate.

Comprehensive, reliable, and publicly available data on China’s domestic oil flows and inventory movements are essentially inaccessible. In this report, the authors propose creating a forum to collect and analyze satellite data to shed more light on the inner workings of China's oil sector.

Private cord blood banking is more widespread than public banking in Jordan, contributing to misinformation and unequal access to resources. The authors conducted surveys with women in Jordan to examine perspectives toward cord banking in the country in order to inform policymaking, ethics and education about the practice.

This brief sets out some of the major structural reforms to taxes, subsidies, and debt issuance in the GCC that are shifting financial burdens from the state to its citizens and residents.

By Marwan Muasher, Ph.D., Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The author explores reform efforts and identifies challenges in Jordan following the Arab Spring. The brief is part of a two-year project is generously supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Nonresident fellow Valentine M. Moghadam analyzes Tunisian women’s employment patterns and challenges and offers some policy recommendations.

By Alanoud Al Sharekh, Ph.D., University of London Kuwait’s economy has been stagnant over the past decade due to political instability, fluctuating oil prices, and endemic corruption. To combat this situation, Kuwait has attempted to develop a robust business sector through fundamental policy shifts away from monopolies and toward the creation of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Alanoud Al Sharekh explores Kuwaiti SME development in an issue brief and a longer research paper, which are part of a series on pluralism and inclusion in the Middle East after the Arab Spring. The project is generously supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.