Research Library

South Korea’s potential aid to Ukraine could not only provide needed military support but also transform both nations’ roles on the global stage. In a new commentary for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, nonresident fellow Henry Haggard explores how such a move would reshape international diplomacy and strengthen South Korea’s global alliances and economic development.

To provide better security and asylum resources at the U.S.-Mexico border, the new U.S. administration and Congress should create legal pathways for immigration, update and better fund the asylum system, and focus political messaging on the historic importance of providing refuge to those seeking safety, writes fellow Kelsey Norman.

San Diego and Tijuana, key entry points at the U.S.-Mexico border, face challenges in meeting the needs of migrants arriving in their cities due to insufficient shelter capacity, infrastructure, and funding. Ana Martín Gil’s new report examines the cities’ differing migrant reception systems and approaches to collaborative efforts among international, federal, and local groups, while also providing policy recommendations to advance the development of an orderly and humane asylum system.

Regardless of partisan differences, there are a number of policy steps that the new administration can take to protect America’s global economic power and influence worldwide.

Turkey lies in a seismically active zone but lacks the rigorous regulation of construction safety standards needed to improve earthquake resistance. In a new Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East brief, nonresident fellow A.Kadir Yildirim explains the relationship between the government and construction industry and what is needed to improve Turkey’s earthquake preparedness.

Despite being one of the largest and most dynamic sectors of the U.S. economy, the construction industry faces a severe labor shortage due to an aging workforce, lower birth rates, and reduced immigration. This new report from the Center for the U.S and Mexico offers recommendations to address the industry’s needs, including authorizing more migrant workers through limited-term visas and promoting construction skills and careers to young people.

The Middle East is in a new era of mass displacement, with millions uprooted after a year of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, with a new front in Lebanon. In a recent commentary featured in The Conversation, Kelsey Norman and coauthor Nichols R. Micinski examine the long-lasting effects of the region’s humanitarian crisis, highlighting the urgent need for a ceasefire to enable displaced communities to return home and rebuild.

While Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump differ on clean energy policy, neither candidate has yet to offer a comprehensive energy plan. In a new commentary featured in The Conversation, Daniel S. Cohan examines how legislation, regulations, and trade policy will guide either administration’s approach to the energy transition.

Nearshoring — the outsourcing of production to another country — would increase manufacturing and further economic development across U.S.-Mexico border areas, but it also raises significant questions about environmental impacts and, ultimately, environmental justice. Both governments should begin drafting and implementing effective transboundary policies that incentivize companies to protect local communities and fragile border ecosystems from a manufacturing surge, writes research scholar Ivonne Cruz.

Low levels of cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico are making it impossible to resolve mutual security concerns, such as drug and human trafficking, cross border gunrunning, and money laundering. Both countries need to transcend their mutual suspicions to find common ground for cooperation to resolve binational security issues with satisfactory solutions, write Tony Payan and Rodrigo Montes de Oca.