Dear friends,

I’m excited to announce that Two Nations Indivisible: Mexico, the United States, and the Road Ahead is now available from Oxford University Press. Read more »

Mexico and the United States are linked closer than ever through trade, bi-national communities, security concerns, and a shared democratic vision. In this interview with Emerging Markets, I spoke with Antonia Oprita about what the challenges and opportunities are for the relationship and why it matters so much for both countries. For a more in-depth analysis, check out my new book, Two Nations Indivisible: Mexico, the United States, and the Road Ahead. Read more »

The Council on Foreign Relations released a new policy innovation memorandum today by American University professor Bob Pastor. The paper, “Shortcut to U.S. Economic Competitiveness: A Seamless North American Market,” puts forth a plan for the United States’ economic recovery that depends on America’s neighbors and closest economic partners—Mexico and Canada. Read more »

With the United States quickly approaching its Friday sequester deadline, the federal government is bracing for cuts. Much of the $85 billion in spending cuts will hit domestic programs and services—everything from wildlife reserves to childcare services. But the reverberations will also be felt in Latin America and the rest of the world. Read more »

Four tons of cocaine confiscated by U.S. authorities off the California coast; 35 bodies dumped by the side of a busy Veracruz highway in broad daylight; an attack by gunmen on a birthday party in Ciudad Juárez killing 14, many of them teenagers: tragedies like these, all of which occurred over the past two years and were extensively covered by the media, are common in Mexico today. Prominent Mexican news organizations and analysts have estimated that during the six-year term of Mexico’s last president, Felipe Calderón, over 60,000 people were killed in drug-related violence, and some researchers have put the number at tens of thousands more. Mexico’s crime rates are some of the worst in the Western Hemisphere. According to Latinobarómetro, an annual regionwide public opinion poll, over 40 percent of Mexicans say that they or a family member has been the victim of a crime at some point in the last year. Hidden behind the troubling headlines, however, is another, more hopeful Mexico—one undergoing rapid and widespread social, political, and economic transformation. Read more »

President Obama outlined his vision yesterday in Las Vegas for a comprehensive immigration reform, officially kicking off what will undoubtedly be a heated countrywide debate. With so many differing (and at times blatantly false) statistics and assertions circling the immigration discussion, here is my take, via Foreign Policy, debunking five of the biggest myths. Do you have others? Let me know! Read more »

Surprising to many Americans is the importance of the United States’ trade with Mexico. While Asia captures the headlines, U.S. exports to Mexico are double those to China, and second only to Canada.

And while many of these goods come from border states—Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California—Mexico matters for much more of the union. Seventeen states send more than 10 percent of their exports to Mexico, and it is the number one or two destination for U.S. goods for nearly half the country. The graph below shows those states most economically dependent on our southern neighbor–notice that South Dakota and Nebraska outpace New Mexico and California. Read more »