Foundations and Conditions of a Strategic Partnership between Mexico and Canada

Relations between Mexico and Canada have become closer to the degree that today one commonly speaks of a “strategic association” between the two countries. This essay seeks to explore the bases and conditioning factors of Mexico and Canada’s vision as strategic partners. The essay is divided into five sections. The first describes the significance of the new governmental vision of a strategic association; the second and third analyze the real bases on which this association can be sustained: from the historical coincidence in different topics and the recent convergence of interests in developing North American integration, to the historical-structural conditioning factors that can encourage it or make it fail. The author evaluates the real bases of a full, permanent, strategic association between Mexico and Canada. The fourth section examines a core point in the creation of that association: the complementary nature between Mexico and Canada in the international sphere that, although it exists, is also limited. The essay ends with a critical reflection on proposals about the future perspectives of the strategic Mexico-Canada association.