Eric L. Olson is a senior advisor at the Woodrow Wilson Center's Mexico Institute.
Eric Olson
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Mexico
Katie Kohlstedt
Katie Kohlstedt is a program associate at the Americas Policy Program in Mexico City.
Our Osmotic Border
In the U.S. immigration debate, we have thus far focused our attention on the symptom—Mexicans crossing the semi-permeable barrier into the United States—and treated the crossing itself as the problem to be solved. In other words, policy makers have been preoccupied with figuring out how to make the border less permeable. But this is a fool’s errand. It’s time to start looking at the pressures that drive unidirectional movement instead of at the symptom.
What Does Italy Hope to Gain by Re-trying Amanda Knox?
Re-opening the Meredith Kercher murder case is a last-ditch effort by Italy to save face.
NAFTA at 20: The New Spin
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which went into effect on January 1, 1994, was touted as the cure for Mexico’s economic “backwardness.” Promoters argued that the trilateral trade agreement would dig Mexico out of its economic rut and modernize it along the lines of its mighty neighbor, the United States. Fat chance.
Living in a Constitution-Free Zone
While a militarized enforcement regime has long existed in the U.S-Mexico borderlands, its far more intense post-9/11 version is also proving geographically expansive. Now, the entire U.S. perimeter has become part of a Fortress USA mentality and a lockdown reality. Unlike on our southern border, there is still no wall to our north on what was once dubbed the “longest undefended border in the world.” But don’t let that fool you. The U.S.-Canadian border is increasingly becoming a national security hotspot.
Republicans Use Border Control to Obstruct Immigration Reform
Conservative and liberal media alike highlight the opposition of the president to any provision linking citizenship to a “secure” border.
Obama Misses Opportunity to Stem Gun Flow to Mexico
Unveiling the most extensive gun control proposal in generations, U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed nearly two dozen executive orders and called on the U.S. Congress to enact a legislative package to blunt the country’s growing trend of gun violence.
While many progressives are lauding the new moves, some are expressing regret that the president didn’t include basic initiatives to curb the significant flow of weapons from the United States into Mexico.
In Mexico, No Matter Which Party Holds the Reins, the People Lose
Part 2 of an interview with Drug War Mexico co-author Peter Watt.
Deregulation and Free Trade a Win-Win for Mexican Narcotraffickers
The Mexican government’s heavily militarized fight against narcotraffickers has helped keep the country mired in violence and inequality.