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Limits to Friendship: The United States and Mexico
An unfettered, probing dialogue between Mexican and American political analysts on the complex relationship between their countries.
Few nations are as closely interrelated as the United States and Mexico. Few relationships between nations are so prickly. America's inveterate problem-solving strikes Mexicans as clandestine imperialism. Mexicans are accused of ignoring the flow of drugs through their country; Americans are accused of saddling Mexico with their drug problem. Americans brood over the influx of Mexican immigrants; Mexicans worry that their culture and traditions are being diluted from the north.
These differences are now aired−and their origins made clear−in this landmark book by a former official in the Carter administration and one of Mexico's most respected political scholars. In alternating chapters on foreign policy, economic relations, immigration, and social influence, Robert A. Pastor and JorgeC. Castañeda offer a multifaceted view of the ties and conflicts between their countries.
Few nations are as closely interrelated as the United States and Mexico. Few relationships between nations are so prickly. America's inveterate problem-solving strikes Mexicans as clandestine imperialism. Mexicans are accused of ignoring the flow of drugs through their country; Americans are accused of saddling Mexico with their drug problem. Americans brood over the influx of Mexican immigrants; Mexicans worry that their culture and traditions are being diluted from the north.
These differences are now aired−and their origins made clear−in this landmark book by a former official in the Carter administration and one of Mexico's most respected political scholars. In alternating chapters on foreign policy, economic relations, immigration, and social influence, Robert A. Pastor and JorgeC. Castañeda offer a multifaceted view of the ties and conflicts between their countries.
432 pages, Paperback
First published November 12, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 4, 2017
Most books about sociopolitical situations are best read hot off the press, because things change so quickly.
This one, however, though published in 1988, is still (sadly) relevant and fresh. Along came NAFTA 6 years after this book, and the border opened up in a way it hadn't done before, but the main thorny issues are still here. So much so, that this same NAFTA is being reconsidered by the current resident of the White House (he-who-shall-not-be-named).
This bilateral analysis is very highbrow and it tackles all the principal points: society, politics, economy, culture. I agree with Castañeda's conclusion about what makes the US-Mexican relationship so touch-and-go: both countries are incompatible, plain and simple. The intrinsic disparities are at the heart of the problem (and at the soul of what makes both countries unique), and they are almost always ignored by governments on both sides, or at least they're swept under the rug like a big, old elephant whose lump won't let us see each other's faces when we sit down to have a chat. We really have so little in common outside of geographical contiguity. Our interests will never meet. So it's easier if we stop pretending. Let's just own up to the fact that all we want to get out of each other has dollar and peso signs stamped all over it. It's more complex than that, of course, but it all boils down to the economic relationship (which cannot help being unequal, given the differences in size, population, and technology).
Both sides are to blame, both sides have a chip on their shoulders, and both sides are woefully uneducated (and unwilling to become literate) about the other. We take what we need from each other and then come the problems. Just like I don't think Mexico will never be able to turn itself around or the US stop sticking its nose into other countries' business, the Mexico-American relationship will not stop following the same blind patterns of pride, incompatible interests, and mutual suspicion and ignorance.
This one, however, though published in 1988, is still (sadly) relevant and fresh. Along came NAFTA 6 years after this book, and the border opened up in a way it hadn't done before, but the main thorny issues are still here. So much so, that this same NAFTA is being reconsidered by the current resident of the White House (he-who-shall-not-be-named).
This bilateral analysis is very highbrow and it tackles all the principal points: society, politics, economy, culture. I agree with Castañeda's conclusion about what makes the US-Mexican relationship so touch-and-go: both countries are incompatible, plain and simple. The intrinsic disparities are at the heart of the problem (and at the soul of what makes both countries unique), and they are almost always ignored by governments on both sides, or at least they're swept under the rug like a big, old elephant whose lump won't let us see each other's faces when we sit down to have a chat. We really have so little in common outside of geographical contiguity. Our interests will never meet. So it's easier if we stop pretending. Let's just own up to the fact that all we want to get out of each other has dollar and peso signs stamped all over it. It's more complex than that, of course, but it all boils down to the economic relationship (which cannot help being unequal, given the differences in size, population, and technology).
Both sides are to blame, both sides have a chip on their shoulders, and both sides are woefully uneducated (and unwilling to become literate) about the other. We take what we need from each other and then come the problems. Just like I don't think Mexico will never be able to turn itself around or the US stop sticking its nose into other countries' business, the Mexico-American relationship will not stop following the same blind patterns of pride, incompatible interests, and mutual suspicion and ignorance.
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December 23, 2023"Pobre Mexico, tan lejos de Dios, tan cerca a los Estados Unidos." Porfirio Diaz
"..in Israel we are so close to GOD and so far from the United States." Moshe Arad, Israeli Ambassador to both Mexico and the United States. p. 149
"Mexico's support for the 1975 UN resolution equating Zionism and racism provoked an indignant response by the American Jewish community, but Echeverria dismissed the Foreign Minister and, in effect, repudiated the vote before it affected the relationship." p. 159
"Americans are the quintessential problem solvers, and they view Mexico as a perennial problem. Americans propose grand schemes to develop Mexico or integrate the two markets. Mexicans, who see the problem-solver as the problem, dismiss or resist the proposals. p. 196
"Mexico is a conservative country with a revolutionary posture." p. 164 therefore a Mexican president does not want to be viewed as to the right of the American president.
"..in Israel we are so close to GOD and so far from the United States." Moshe Arad, Israeli Ambassador to both Mexico and the United States. p. 149
"Mexico's support for the 1975 UN resolution equating Zionism and racism provoked an indignant response by the American Jewish community, but Echeverria dismissed the Foreign Minister and, in effect, repudiated the vote before it affected the relationship." p. 159
"Americans are the quintessential problem solvers, and they view Mexico as a perennial problem. Americans propose grand schemes to develop Mexico or integrate the two markets. Mexicans, who see the problem-solver as the problem, dismiss or resist the proposals. p. 196
"Mexico is a conservative country with a revolutionary posture." p. 164 therefore a Mexican president does not want to be viewed as to the right of the American president.
July 11, 2012
An oldie but a goodie. To anyone who wants to understand the conflictive and contradictory relationship between the US and Mexico, this is a must-read. The format is very innovative: Robert Pastor, an American, wrote about Mexico while living in Mexico. The co-author, Jorge Castañeda, wrote about the U.S. while living in American soil. They dissect all aspects of the relationship, how both countries diverged since colonization and independence, and what makes these 2 countries so different but at the same time so similar. They review differences and similarities in terms of social environment, politics, religion, work-ethics, sports, and a host of different subjects. At the end, both authors recognize that it is in the best interest of both countries to walk together and closer, rather than growing apart.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews