POL 580A - National and Civil Security in Mexico

Mexico and the United States have always shared a complex relationship. Mexico is the second largest U.S. trading partner with over $661 billion in trade in 2021; that amounts to over a million dollars crossing the border every minute. Conversely, organized crime in Mexico has claimed nearly 200,000 lives since 2006 and there are more than 93,000 people reported as disappeared. Drugs produced or trafficked through Mexico feed a devastating drug abuse crisis in the United States that led to the deaths of 91,799 people in 2020. Despite a change in U.S. administrations, the challenges of economic integration, irregular migration, and transnational organized crime continue to drive U.S. policy objectives. In Mexico, populist Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has struggled to implement his goals to take on corruption, reduce government excess, and solve Mexico's internal security crisis. Understanding the unique Mexican security situation and the Mexican perspective of security policy is critical for academics and policymakers navigating evolving bilateral security relations.