As Election Season comes closer to a close—one way or
another—it’s interesting to reflect on the ‘important’ issues of today as
compared to the not-so-distant past, especially when it comes to foreign policy
and relations. On Monday, October 22nd, President Obama and Governor
Romney tussled over foreign policy in the third and final presidential debate.
Far off countries like Iran, Israel, China, Afghanistan,
Syria, Libya, and Egypt were hot-topics, but our nearest-to-home foreign
neighbors—Canada and Mexico—were nowhere in sight. Surprising? Not really,
considering the U.S. and Canada and the U.S. and Mexico are on reasonably good
terms.
That wasn’t always the case, though. Before the U.S. and
Canada were united by their similar policies during the Cold War, their relationship
had been strained for various reasons—trading dispute, environmental issues,
the export of oil, illegal immigration, and the threat of terrorism. In an
essay on the very topic of Canada-United States Relations, economists Marie-Josee
Drouin and Harald Malmgren were of the opinion that “the two governments
seem[ed] to be on a collision course.”
These days, though, Canada and the U.S. are close allies;
they are the world’s largest trading partners and have the world’s longest land
border. Foreign policies have generally aligned in recent years as well, so the
need debate about foreign policy between the two isn’t really present.
Similarly, the relationship between Mexico and the United
States is much more stable than in the past. There have been some disputes over
illegal immigration and illegal drug and weapons trading, but the two
governments are cooperating with each other.
And while in 1800s Mexico was a main part of the foreign
policy agenda (i.e. the Mexican-American War), the two countries haven’t had
many serious disputes since. Mexico, like Canada shares significant economic
ties with the United States.
Linda
Valdez, however, argues that “The stability of our southern neighbor is a
legitimate national safety concern as drug cartels run wild. How is the United
States going to keep Mexico from becoming a narco-state? That’s a much bigger
worry than the ‘invasion’ of maids and busboys the GOP freaks about.”
There is an essential piece of advice to take from Valdez’s
comments, whether you agree with them or not: It’s important to keep an eye on
what goes on in our own neighborhood—close to home—as well as down the block.
At the end of the day, we’ve got to remember that because Canada and Mexico are
two very close, very large countries around the U.S., maintaining a healthy
relationship with them is a necessity—whether they show up in our foreign
policy debates or not.
إرسال تعليق