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21. Troubled Neighbor: Mexico's Drug Violence Poses a Threat to the United States

Author:
Ted Galen Carpenter
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
While U.S. leaders have focused on actual or illusory security threats in distant regions, there is a troubling security problem brewing much closer to home. Violence in Mexico, mostly related to the trade in illegal drugs, has risen sharply in recent years and shows signs of becoming even worse. That violence involves turf fights among the various drug-trafficking organizations as they seek to control access to the lucrative U.S. market. To an increasing extent, the violence also entails fighting between drug traffickers and Mexican military and police forces.
Topic:
Security and Markets
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

22. Security and Intelligence in U.S.-Mexico Relations

Author:
Luis Herrera-Lasso
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
The relationship between Mexico and the United States has been defined by the countries' shared border, their economic interaction (which has been growing since the signing of NAFTA), and by their common geopolitical arena.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Intelligence, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

23. Immigration and Insecurity: Post-9/11 Fear in the United States

Author:
John Tirman
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The attacks of September 11, 2001, transformed the landscape of global security, none more than borders and immigration. The topography of citizenship, belonging, and suspicion instantly changed for Arab and Muslim communities in the United States. They drew the sharp attention of U.S. law enforcement and intelligence services, and that continues. But the public's focus has swung south to scrutinize the U.S.-Mexican border as a source of insecurity. For the most part, the alarms about immigrants as threats are exaggerated. And the policy choices driven by these concerns—much larger border security measures in particular—are costly in a globalized economy and unnecessary for security in any case.
Topic:
Security, Migration, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, Arab Countries, North America, and Mexico

24. Nontraditional Security Threats in the U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Relationship: Overview and Recommendations

Author:
John Bailey
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Before September 11, 2001, security—primarily, anti-drug trafficking efforts—ranked among the top two or three issues in Mexico-U.S. relations. Since that day, security has dominated the U.S. policy agenda in foreign affairs, including the bilateral agenda. Mexico, which had put more emphasis on migration reform, has accepted the new reality as defined by the United States. This background paper identifies some of the more pressing nontraditional security threats in the U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship and suggests recommendations to address them. Inevitably somewhat U.S.-centric, my approach is to cover a good deal of ground in broad-brush strokes, providing only enough detail to buttress the main points and illustrate the recommendations.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

25. No Illusions-Paradigm Shifting on Mexican Migration to the US in the Post- 9-11 World

Author:
T. Alexander Aleinikoff
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
The U.S.-Mexican immigration relationship has never been good. For most of their histories, the two countries have determined policy unilaterally despite a multitude of interconnections and a shared border of thousands of miles. The willful refusal to recognize common interests, the ability to pretend that sound policies can be crafted in isolation, is remarkable—and deeply counterproductive. Hopes for a “grand bargain” under the leadership of Presidents Fox and Bush faded quickly after the events of September 11, 2001. There may be a time in the future when such an agenda might be fruitfully pursued—and Andrés Rozental's pa per makes eminently sensible suggestions as to the elements that might constitute a grand bargain. But at the moment, at least on the U.S. side, policy development is viewed primarily—if not exclusively—as a matter of domestic politics and legislation. Interestingly, however, the debate on the American side may well play out in terms that are compatible with the elements of a “grand bargain.” I will argue that this result is due to shifting paradigms in the understanding of the U.S.-Mexican relationship: the Bush Administration's immigration proposals show movement away from a paradigm of control and toward one of a hemispheric labor market.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

26. A U.S.-Mexico Partnership in Energy- A Policy of Convenience

Author:
José Alberro
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Four years have come and gone in the Mexico-US relationship since the almost simultaneous inaugurations of Presidents Bush and Fox. The optimism bred by their first auspicious meetings has given way to aloofness and/or irritation in the post 9/11 era. Indeed, for some in the United States, Porfirio Díaz's dictum should be turned on its head to state “poor United States, so far away from God and so close to Mexico.” The fact remains that geography is destiny. Moreover, in the post-9/11, post-PRI environment, Mexico and the United States have complementary needs that could become the foundation of a policy of convenience and be the basis for a commitment to further strengthen their long- term economic ties.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

27. Security and Intelligence in US-Mexico Relations

Author:
Luis Herrera-Lasso M.
Publication Date:
12-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
The relationship between Mexico and the United States has been defined by the countries' shared border, their economic interaction (which has been growing since the signing of NAFTA), and by their common geopolitical arena.
Topic:
Security and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

28. US-Mexico Border Control in a Changing Economic and Security Context

Author:
Peter Andreas
Publication Date:
12-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Although far from Washington and Mexico City, it is perhaps only a slight exaggeration to say that U.S.-Mexico relations begin and end at their shared 1,933-mile-long border. Indeed, the degree of harmony or conflict in the relationship increasingly depends on how the border and border control matters are politically managed. The border is both one of the busiest and one of the most heavily policed territorial lines in the world, where many of the most critical and sensitive issues in the bilateral relationship, such as trade, migration, and drug trafficking, come together. In fact, much of U.S. policy toward Mexico has been driven by the twin objectives of facilitating authorized border crossings and deterring unauthorized crossings. Balancing these tasks has always been politically and bureaucratically frustrating and cumbersome, but both the challenge and the stakes have grown substantially as counterterrorism has been added to and redefined the border control agenda since September 11, 2001.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Economics
Political Geography:
United States, Washington, and Mexico

29. The Defense Monitor, Rogue States: Nuclear Red-Herrings

Author:
Eric Hagt, Victoria Samson, Thomas R. Pickering, Lawrence J. Korb, Bruce.G Blair, and Yali Chen
Publication Date:
02-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
For all the talk about rogue states acquiring nuclear weapons to threaten the United States, and all the heated debate about the United States developing mini-nukes and bunker busters to keep the rogues at bay, the U.S. nuclear weapons establishment does not pay much attention to the “axis of evil.” The real obsession of the U.S. nuclear enterprise at all levels — from Strategic Command in Omaha to the bomb custodians and designers in New Mexico — is keeping U.S. nuclear forces prepared to fight a large-scale nuclear war at a moment's notice with … Russia.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Mexico

30. Beyond Arms Control: How to Deal with Nuclear Weapons

Author:
Rose Gottemoeller
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Nuclear arms control is often considered not worth the effort now that the Cold War is over. But the nuclear threat is anything but over. Several thousand strategic nuclear weapons remain on hair-trigger alert in U.S. and Russian arsenals. Many more are insecurely stored. Though the arms control problem needs to be faced by both countries, neither one has the stomach for another Cold War–style, 500-page treaty like START I. The new model is the 2002 Moscow Treaty—a simple, three-page commitment to reduction. Such short treaties now make sense because both countries have many ways to know what is going on inside each other's nuclear arsenal. START I is still very important, but it is no longer the only tool in the box. Today, Washington and Moscow can relegate negotiated treaties to a few essential fronts and pursue exciting, innovative arms control efforts involving threat reduction and technical cooperation.
Topic:
Security, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Russia, Washington, and Mexico