Lobbying the United States: Challenges and Opportunities for Mexico

Relations between Mexico and the United States is the theme of this article, in which Liliana Ferrer notes that, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Mexico was replaced by security issues and Iraq as the priority concerns of President Bush’s foreign policy. Today, however, the two nations are entering a new phase in their bilateral relationship, but Mexico will have to design and implement an innovative public relations and lobbying campaign if it is to regain a place on the foreign policy agenda of the United States. Presidents Felipe Calderón and George Bush have met on several occasions over the last year to discuss cooperation, mainly in the area of drug trafficking and organized crime, one of the most pernicious problems of our times. It is up to Mexico to exploit the enormous potential of this bilateral relationship to the full, but reestablishing its importance on the foreign policy agenda of the United States in a post-09/11 world will be especially difficult given that there are other pressing issues on this agenda apart from security concerns, such as the energy crisis, the emergence of China and the global implications of the financial crisis the United States is currently facing. The upcoming presidential elections in the United States present an invaluable opportunity for Mexico to reinstate its privileged position and promote the intense and varied bilateral agenda it is aiming for. According to the author, the greatest challenge will be to combat misinformation and misunderstandings between the two countries, in light of the unprecedented role public perception and opinion have come to play in the formulation of foreign policy