Towards the Consolidation of a Strategic Relationship: Mexico and Canada

Convergence—the result of the process to redefine Mexico’s and Canada’s foreign policies—, coincidence in different subjects and the complementary nature of areas of common interest have allowed Canada and Mexico to inject their bilateral relationship with unusual dynamism. The new strategic alliance between the two nations is forged in the heat of two new factors: continuity and consistency. The first of them supposes the persistence of the intention and the flexibility of the action to reach medium-and long-term objectives beyond changes in administration; the second entails the design and putting into practice of an integral strategy that is reflected in the bilateral agenda that, in turn, is coherent with the foreign policy objectives and with the development and modernization processes of the two countries. This essay identifies the commitments, the actions and the advances that both continuity and consistency have been giving to the bilateral relationship. The analysis is divided into two parts: the first addresses following up and implementation of the mechanisms of dialogue and cooperation that have provided the bilateral relationship with greater solidity and maturity; the second presents the expansion and enrichment of the bilateral agenda as an example of the interrelationship process and the enormous potential of cooperation and of interchange existing between the two countries.