Constru the United States and Mexico: Forging a Strategic Partnership
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Mexico Institute The United States and Mexico: Forging a Strategic Partnership Report of the Study Group on U.S.-Mexico Relations Ambassador Andrés Rozental and Professor Peter H. Smith, Co-Chairs es dinador coor Smith, H. eter P esor of Pr y ental Roz Andrés Embajador Unidos Estados México- Relación la de Estudio de Grupo del te repor Un ica Estratég Asociación Una endo uy Constr México: y Unidos Estados Los Institute Mexico 3 2 Apéndice 1 2 Finales ios Comentar 4 1 vidad Competiti la taleciendo or F 1 1 idad gur Se la gurando Ase 5 Asociación la de os arámetr P Los 3 acio ef We would like to thank Grupo Bimbo for their support of this project. Pr 1 o v Ejecuti Resumen E C I D N Í C O N T E N T S 1 Executive Summary . ecto y o pr este de o y apo su por Bimbo upo Gr a radecemos 3 Preface Ag 5 Parameters of Partnership 1 1 Ensuring Mutual Security 1 4 Strengthening Competiveness 2 1 Concluding Remarks 2 3 Appendix The United States and Mexico: Forging a Strategic Partnership Report of the Study Group on U.S.-Mexico Relations Ambassador Andrés Rozental and Professor Peter H. Smith, Co-Chairs With Rafael Fernández de Castro and Andrew Selee Woodrow Wilson Center Mexico Institute Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales 2005 MEXICO INSTITUTE ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS Co-Chairs Hon. Lawrence Harrington, Inter-American Development Mr. José Antonio Fernández Carbajal, Chairman Bank Representative-Mexico and CEO, FEMSA Hon. Carlos Alberto de Icaza, Ambassador of Mr. Roger W. Wallace, Vice President, Government Mexico to the United States Affairs, Pioneer Natural Resources Company Hon. James Jones, Co-Chairman, Manatt Jones Global Strategies Members Mr. Alejandro Junco, President, Reforma and El Norte Mr. Herb Allen, President and CEO, Allen and Co., LLC Dr. Enrique Krauze, President, Letras Libres Mr. Alberto Bailleres, Chairman, Grupo BAL and ITAM Mr. Robert Lovelace, Chairman, Capital Research Company Mr. Javier Baz, former General Manager, Trust Company Dr. Lorenzo Meyer, Professor, El Colegio de México of the West Dr. Hector Moreira, Undersecretary of Energy Dr. Luis de la Calle, General Director, De la Calle, Madrazo, Dr. Susan Kaufman Purcell, Director, Center for Mancera, S.C. Hemispheric Policy, University of Miami Dr. Roderic Ai Camp, Professor, Claremont-McKenna College Hon. Jesús Reyes Heroles, President, Grupo GEA Mr. Eduardo Cepeda, Managing Director, J.P. Hon. Andrés Rozental, President, Consejo Mexicano Morgan Chase-Mexico de Asuntos Internacionales Mr. Brian Dyson, former Vice Chairman and COO, Sir Nicholas Scheele, President, Ford Motor Company Coca-Cola Dr. Peter H. Smith, Professor, University of California, Ms. Maria Echaveste, President, Nueva Vista Group San Diego Hon. Carlos Elizondo, Mexican Permanent Representative Dr. Luis Téllez, Co-Director, the Carlyle Group-Mexico to the OECD Ms. Mónica Verea, Professor, UNAM Mr. Donald E. Garcia, President, Pinnacle Financial Group. Dr. Peter Ward, Director of the Mexico Center, Hon. Antonio O. Garza, Ambassador of the University of Texas, Austin United States to Mexico Mr. Lorenzo Zambrano, Chairman and CEO, CEMEX Mr. Armando Garza Sada, President, Versax WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS Lee H. Hamilton, President and Director Board of Trustees About the Center Joseph B. Gildenhorn, Chair The Center is the living memorial of the United States of David A. Metzner,Vice Chair America to the nation’s twenty-eighth president, Woodrow Wilson. Congress established the Woodrow Wilson Center in PUBLIC MEMBERS: James H. Billington, The Librarian of 1968 as an international institute for advanced study,“symbol- Congress; Bruce Cole, Chairman, National Endowment for izing and strengthening the fruitful relationship between the the Humanities; Michael O. Leavitt, The Secretary, U.S. world of learning and the world of public affairs.”The Center Department of Health and Human Services; Condoleezza opened in 1970 under its own board of trustees. Rice,The Secretary, U.S. Department of State; Lawrence M. 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Glazer, Tami programs are those of the authors and speakers and do not Longaberger necessarily reflect the views of the Center staff, fellows, trustees, advisory groups, or any individuals or organizations that provide financial support to the Center. www.wilsoncenter.org CONSEJO MEXICANO DE ASUNTOS INTERNACIONALES The Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales (COMEXI) is the only multidisciplinary organization committed to foster- ing sophisticated, broadly inclusive political discourse and analysis on the nature of Mexico’s participation in the international arena and the relative influence of Mexico’s increasingly global orientation on domestic priorities.The Council is an independ- ent, nonprofit, pluralistic forum, with no government or institutional ties that is financed exclusively by membership dues and corporate support.The main objectives of COMEXI are to provide information and analysis of interest to our associates, as well as to create a solid institutional framework for the exchange of ideas concerning pressing world issues that affect our country. ISBN 1-933549-02-5 Executive Summary e propose that policymakers in both countries define the bilateral rela- W tionship as a strategic partnership, in which both countries can achieve important benefits from cooperation for their security and competitiveness. This is a vital and complex relationship that demands constant attention at the highest levels. We need creative approaches to old issues and to new challenges. In some cases there are common objectives that can be pursued; in other cases, there are complementary objectives that can be addressed through collaboration.There is no single issue that should dominate the bilateral agenda,but a series of very impor- tant issues that policymakers in the two countries can work on together. In most cases, efforts at cooperation can start small and scale up over time. We propose that the Presidents of the two countries commit themselves to at least one major annual presidential summit, which would involve key cabi- net officers, as a way of highlighting the importance of the relationship. The two governments also need to develop new mechanisms for ongoing cooper- ation that build on current arrangements. We recommend that policymakers strengthen mutual security, by exploring areas of collaboration that respond to concerns on both sides of the border. Joint efforts around public security, which is a major concern in both countries, could help build trust, develop systems for sharing intelligence, and upgrade technol- ogy and personnel. Initiatives that help “de-border the border” by moving secu- rity enforcement away from the immediate border would also be beneficial. We recommend that policymakers promote cooperative efforts to improve economic competitiveness in the two countries.This should include efforts to channel migration flows through a guest-worker program with a path to citizen- ship and enhanced visa policies. It should also recognize that long-term devel- opment requires investments in infrastructure, human capital, and productive enterprises in Mexico and policies that facilitate trade and investment flows between the two countries. Mexico has the opportunity to use future oil rev- enues to create a financing package for development without privatization,while benefiting the United States, which needs a secure long-term supply of oil. This report is based on the findings of a Working Group that met on February 17–18, 2005 in Washington, D.C., several smaller meetings held over the last year, and nine background papers that were prepared as part of this study. A full list of Working Group members and background papers can be found in Appendix A and Appendix B.The report reflects a summary of the major points discussed; however, it does not assume a consensus on the part of the Working Group and individual members of the group may not agree with all the proposals presented in this report. The steering committee that oversaw this project included the co-chairs, Peter H. Smith and Andrés Rozental; Rafael Fernández de Castro, Director of International Relations at ITAM; and Andrew Selee, Director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center. 1 Preface he United States and Mexico need one another. In an age of global terror- T ism, the United States is extremely fortunate to have a neighbor on its southern border that is as peaceful, stable, and friendly as Mexico.And in an era of economic uncertainty, Mexico has a unique opportunity to reap substantial gains from its proximity to the largest market in the world. Yet the U.S.-Mexican relationship stands in need of attention. Over the past several years it has essentially been left on “automatic pilot.” The U.S. government has pursued higher priorities in other parts of the globe and largely neglected its southern neighbor. Mexico, in the meantime, has dis- played little diplomatic energy or political entrepreneurship in dealing with its