Each semester, BFPI research teams produce a detailed policy analysis or research report on an important issue in international affairs, economic policy, or global governance, reviewing existing literature, examining policy trends, and generating evidence-based insights that add to ongoing policy discussions. Students lead the projects with support from research analysts, working together to produce written research outputs and presentations.
As the United States and China race to set the technical, commercial, and regulatory standards that the rest of the world builds on, artificial intelligence has become one of the defining fronts of great-power competition. This research team examines how each country is positioning its models, chips, and infrastructure to become the "default" choice for governments and companies abroad, and what that competition means for allies and unaligned states caught between the two ecosystems.
The Darién Gap, the roadless jungle connecting Colombia and Panama, has become one of the world's busiest and most dangerous migration corridors. This research team examines the humanitarian conditions facing migrants who cross it, the domestic and regional immigration policies shaping the flow of people, and the diplomatic tensions the crisis has created between origin, transit, and destination countries.
Europe's reliance on a small number of overseas manufacturers for critical medicines and pharmaceutical ingredients has raised concerns about drug shortages and strategic vulnerability. This research team examines how European governments and the EU are responding to these supply chain risks, and what "health sovereignty" means in practice for a bloc that still depends heavily on external suppliers.
Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile hold the majority of the world's known lithium reserves, a resource increasingly central to the global energy transition and to US economic and national security interests. This research team examines how Washington is competing with China and other powers for access to the region's lithium, and what that competition means for the Andean countries themselves.
BFPI's consulting division is partnering with the Sambhav Foundation this cycle on a client-facing engagement, applying the same research and analytical rigor of our policy teams to a real-world organizational challenge.
Deliverables and publications from previous BFPI research cycles will be available here as project teams complete their work.
View Past Publications