The Foreign Service Journal, October 2007

O C T O B E R 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 17 he Mexico-U.S. border is unique in many dimensions: its length, the volume of traffic that flows across it and the key fact that, ever since it was finalized midway through the 19th century, it has remained largely peaceful and free of troops. It is dis- tinctive also as the frontier between the mightiest eco- nomic, military and political power on earth and a much less developed country with too many domestic prob- lems to have realistic aspirations to world leadership. Finally, the border also represents the line separating two cultures that, for all their overlap, still diverge in their outlooks on cultural issues, in the food they con- sume, in their attitudes toward family, gender and wealth, and in their posture regarding authority and gov- ernment. Yet, for all the differences between Mexico and the United States, the border region forms an unbreakable bond between the two countries. The communities that lie along and frequently straddle it enjoy a unique sym- biosis that impels them to work together to address com- mon problems: legal and illicit trade, pollution and man- agement of water resources, crossings of people who work on one side but live on the other side, and endless other exchanges that make them far more attached to each other than with other towns in their own countries. High on the bilateral agenda is the fact that violence along the border has increased perceptibly over the past several years. Organized crime and bands of drug traf- fickers pose a growing danger in the south, and groups of vigilantes have taken the law into their hands in trying to stem the flow of immigrants to the north. These situa- tions call on both countries to cooperate closely with each other to eliminate such threats. Land Grab or Manifest Destiny? When Mexico became independent from Spain in 1821, nearly four decades after the U.S. had gained its own sovereignty, its northern border extended through what is now Texas and included all the territories up to the northern frontiers of Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California. However, much of the land was sparsely in- habited and unexplored, and was variously claimed by Mexico, Great Britain, the U.S. and Russia. Ironically, Mexico lost Texas in part because it fol- lowed a liberal immigration policy that enticed U.S. citi- F O C U S O N T H E U . S . B O R D E R S A V IEW FROM THE S OUTH F OR ALL THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN M EXICO AND THE U NITED S TATES , THE BORDER REGION FORMS AN UNBREAKABLE BOND BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES . B Y M ANUEL S UÁREZ -M IER T Manuel Suárez-Mier has just joined Mexico’s diplomat- ic service with the rank of minister, and will represent his country’s attorney general in Washington, D.C. He was previously an adjunct professor of economics and finance in the School of International Service at American University.