Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy

08/28/2026

Five years after the Taliban’s return, global protections and resettlement efforts for displaced Afghans have been halted indefinitely. In a new brief, Ana Martín Gil examines shifting policies in the U.S., Pakistan, and Iran, emphasizing the moral and strategic considerations involved in protecting displaced populations.

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Five years after the Taliban’s return, global protections and resettlement efforts for displaced Afghans have been halted indefinitely. In this brief, Ana Martín Gil examines shifting policies in the U.S., Pakistan, and Iran, emphasizing the moral and strategic considerations involved in protecti...

08/27/2026

Amid a nationwide shortage of primary care doctors, access to pediatric care varies significantly across Texas’ urban and rural counties. In a new brief, Heidi Russell analyzes Texas pediatrician data and demographics to highlight key policy priorities and research gaps, finding that equitable access to care extends beyond the number of pediatricians alone.

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Amid a nationwide shortage of primary care doctors, access to pediatric care varies significantly across Texas’ urban and rural counties. In this brief, Heidi Russell analyzes Texas pediatrician data and demographics to highlight key policy priorities and research gaps, finding that equitable acce...

08/26/2026

🌎 What happens when populations begin to shrink?
Join the Baker Institute Center for Tax and Budget Policy on Sept. 9 for “The Age of Depopulation,” a one-day conference exploring how demographic decline could affect economic growth, immigration, fiscal policy, infrastructure, and more.
Thank you to the Houston Endowment and Alvarez & Marsal for their contributions to the Center for Tax and Budget Policy, which made this event possible.

Register: https://bit.ly/4yquEae

08/26/2026

Texas’ new Bible-only required reading list raises questions about how public schools can serve a religiously diverse student population. David R. Brockman of the Religion and Public Policy Program outlines the constitutional and policy considerations surrounding the requirement and how the State Board of Education could address them before the 2030 rollout.

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Texas’ new Bible-only required reading list raises questions about serving a religiously diverse student population. David R. Brockman of the Religion and Public Policy Program examines the constitutional and policy considerations surrounding the requirement ahead of the 2030 rollout.

08/20/2026

Violence against children is a global crisis. What are the systemic drivers behind it, and what can we do to break the cycle?

On Sept. 3, the Baker Institute Center for Health Policy will bring together health experts, including epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina, Ph.D., to discuss the health impacts of childhood exposure to violence and the policies needed to better protect children.

🔗 Reserve your spot: https://bit.ly/4qlJMCk

Sponsored by Texas Children’s Hospital, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, and Baylor College of Medicine.

08/19/2026

As AI reshapes global competition, security, and governance, influence increasingly depends not only on technological capacity but also on regulatory and economic strategies. A new report from the Claudio X. González Center for the U.S. and Mexico compares AI governance approaches in the U.S., EU, and Mexico, highlighting the challenges of balancing innovation, security, and international collaboration.

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As AI reshapes global competition, security, and governance, influence increasingly depends not only on technological capacity but also on regulatory and economic strategies. This report from the Claudio X. González Center for the U.S. and Mexico compares AI governance approaches in the U.S., EU, a...

08/19/2026

⚡ As Texas’ electricity demand continues to grow, state leaders are weighing how best to expand the electric grid to meet future needs, all while navigating debates over land use, property rights, and grid reliability. What could these decisions mean for the Lone Star State’s energy future?
Join the Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies and the Baker Institute Center for Tax and Budget Policy on Sept. 2 for a town hall exploring the opportunities, challenges, and policy tradeoffs surrounding a proposed 765-kilovolt transmission network in Texas.

This event will be held at the Houston Federal Reserve Branch. In-person registration has now closed.
Register to receive a link to our livestream: https://bit.ly/4wHFwzp

08/19/2026

Ex-China dysprosium oxide traded ~484% above the China price in July 2026. Even at that spread, investment in new Western supply remains limited.

The challenge is financing. Projects are underwritten against a price a state-backed monopoly can move at will, so investment committees may model the bottom of the range, making projects difficult to finance.

In a new working paper, Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes proposes an Allied Reference Price: a published benchmark for material from qualified producers, discovered through reverse auctions in which producers compete for multiyear supply contracts from committed buyers.

Rather than relying on price floors, the approach would create market infrastructure based on competition among qualified producers, contracts investors can underwrite, and a premium designed to shrink as allied supply scales.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3SK6V4K

Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes proposes an Allied Reference Price to address financing barriers facing Western critical minerals projects exposed to China-anchored prices. The paper outlines a benchmark for qualified material based on reverse auctions and multiyear supply contracts, creating market infrastru...

08/18/2026

David M. Satterfield, director of the Baker Institute and former U.S. ambassador to Turkey, recently joined the BBC to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East and the political pressures shaping Israel’s decisions on Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
“This is Bibi Netanyahu's political and personal fight of his lifetime and he will do nothing that could alienate the hard right, hard nationalist part of his coalition.”

08/18/2026

🗓️ The Baker Institute has announced its Fall 2026 calendar, bringing global leaders, policymakers, scientists, scholars and innovators to Houston as part of a full slate of conversations on the issues shaping our world.
From energy systems and grid resilience to artificial intelligence and health, global affairs, demographics, science policy and the future of Texas, attendees will hear from leading voices such as former President of Mexico Vicente Fox, former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, astronaut Ellen Ochoa, Rob Kaplan, Richard Besser and more.

Explore how you can join the conversation: https://bit.ly/4geTfXp