The Multilateral Vocation of Mexican Foreign Policy

Carmen Moreno states that, during the 1994-2000 administration, Mexico developed a series of foreign policy initiatives that demonstrate the country’s new role in international relations: it reinforced its international presence with the conclusion of free trade agreements and a foreign relations diversification policy; it solved the challenges of its proximity to the United States at the same time that it intensified its contacts with Latin America and Europe and opened up new spaces with Asia, the Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Furthermore, in the multilateral arena, it identified and promoted viable options to advance national interests. The author stresses that the Mexican multilateral policy was active and encouraged discussion and exchange of opinions; the main topics of its agenda were the democratization of the United Nations, the new international financial architecture, international peace and security, the fight against drugs, human rights and sustainable development. Novel initiatives were presented in these areas and concrete progress was achieved. Considering the present, overall world situation, Carmen Moreno proposes, multilateral action requires long-term strategies; special efforts to harmonize, dialogue and reconcile; and fundamentally, the basic view of a common future in order to achieve international community rules and parameters.