Agenda

Opening Address: Stephen Haber, Park L. Loughlin Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution

A natural starting point to think about the Mexico-US relationship is to identify the forces that have driven U.S. policies over the long term. Some key questions in this respect are the following:

1. Isolationism is not a new current in American politics. Which forces and factors give rise to it? Has the most recent episode of isolationism fundamentally and irreversibly changed the views of voters about the relationship between the U.S. and the rest of the world?

2. The United States has been the world’s leading economy and military power for the past century. How has the U.S. responded to challenges to its dominant position? How is it responding to the challenge posed by a rising China? What sets of relationships with third countries might help the U.S meet this challenge?

Moderator: Luis Tellez, former Chief of Staff to the President and Minister of Energy and Minister of Transport

From an economic perspective there are four main questions confronting the United States and Mexico:

1. What effects did economic integration since the 1990s have on the economies of the United States and Mexico? What would be the effect on both countries of reversing economic integration?

2. What challenges were surfaced by the economic integration of the United States and Mexico? How might future challenges be mitigated?

3. Are there important areas where there is scope for additional integration of the U.S. and Mexican economies to the benefit of both countries, most particularly in service-related lines of economic activity, such as long-term health care?

4. The United States and Mexico share common geological formations that include significant deposits of shale oil and gas. What opportunities exist for both countries in the efficient exploitation of those deposits? What challenges must be addressed to do so?

5. How important is Mexican labor in the U.S. economy? What would be the likely impact over the long term of a dramatic reduction in America’s Mexican workforce? Are there useful lessons from previous efforts with temporary worker programs that might inform current debates?

Moderator: Gen. H.R. McMaster, Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, former National Security Advisor

From a national security perspective there are three major questions confronting the United States and Mexico:

1. Is the United States stepping back from its role as world hegemon, such that security will be based on regional blocs? What would Mexico’s role be in a North American bloc? What challenges would have to be addressed for it to fill this role?
2. A major challenge that the U.S. faces is undocumented migration from around the world. A major challenge for Mexico is that U.S.-bound migrants and refugees are using it as a conduit and way station. What institutions and arrangements might be created to help both countries meet these challenges?
3. Both the United States and Mexico face a security challenge posed by transnational criminal organizations. What are the margins for stronger cooperation between Mexico and the US to combat these organizations? What lessons can we learn from past episodes of stronger and weaker cooperation between both countries?