One of the most complex and intense bilateral ties in the current international scenario is the one between Mexico and the United States. Between both countries there is one of the main world exchanges of merchandise, investments, money, and people, among others, which make this relationship one of the most complex in the world. For this reason, issue 74 of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior is dedicated to analyzing the relationship between Mexico and the United States.

The Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior dedicates this volume to the theoretical and practical study of Mexico's participation in different bilateral, subregional, and regional economic groups. Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean is a priority on Mexico's international agenda and, in this regard, the country has taken firm steps in 2004 towards Mexico's entry as an observer to the Central American Integration System (SICA) and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). In addition, it highlights its participation in the negotiations of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the launch of the Puebla-Panama Plan (PPP) and pronounces itself in other multilateral forums that deal with political, economic and social issues of a regional nature.

The holding of the Third Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean-European Union (UE-LAC) in Guadalajara, Mexico, on May 28 and 29, constitutes an event of particular relevance for Mexico's foreign policy in 2004. That is why the The Matías Romero Institute decided to dedicate issue 71 of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior to this important event. From various trenches and different topics, officials and academics give an account of the relevance of the dialogue between Latin America and the Caribbean-European Union.

Number that celebrates the first 20 years of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior, its pages present conferences given at the XV Meeting of Ambassadors and Consuls of Mexico, which took place on January 7 and 8, 2004 at the Foreign Ministry Mexican. As Secretary Derbez pointed out in his opening speech, those attending the Meeting were able to hear “the original opinion of academics, politicians, and international officials on issues that are relevant to our diplomacy.”

In this issue of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior, the debate on trade and economic promotion as an instrument for economic and social development, the diversification of Mexico's economic, political, and cultural relations with the outside world, as well as the multilateral nature of international security.

The Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior presents in this issue essays on the actions that the Mexican government promotes in the Latin American region, the human rights activities that the Mexican government has carried out as part of its foreign policy, the complex interaction between economy and politics in the democratic transition in Latin America, the challenge of equitable and sustainable development, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, the African Renaissance, the actions of the IMF and the World Bank to maintain economic stability and reduce poverty rates in the world, the return of Uruguay to democratic life in 1985; It also includes reviews of current books in the field of international relations and speeches by Foreign Minister Castañeda are published that expose relevant issues, commitments and advances in the country's foreign policy.

This edition of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior brings together texts that show how Mexico participates, along with other States, in the creation of an international system of norms and rules that allows better coexistence between countries and a more humane development of its inhabitants. It also collects the experiences and advances, the projects and points of view of three Mexican cultural attaches abroad.

The objective of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior, a publication of the Matías Romero Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is to offer data, descriptions and specialized analyzes on its pages regarding the activities, programs and specific projects of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as to events and phenomena typical of international relations and diplomacy. This issue reviews the current government's active first year of foreign policy, international peace, disarmament and security issues, along with problems and actions related to the unfortunate events of September 11, 2001, which marked a milestone in history, and have forced to redefine objectives and priorities of the contemporary international agenda.

In this issue of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior, central issues of current international reality are analyzed: the response of the Mexican government to the terrorist attacks of September 11, in light of the principles of Mexico's foreign policy; the formation of a new international order based on rules and norms; Mercosur as a Latin American integration mechanism; a review of the objectives and possibilities of the Puebla-Panama Plan; the ratification by the Mexican Congress of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the interests of Chilean foreign policy; and international cooperation against organized transnational crime, financial crime and corruption.

The Matías Romero Institute expresses its intention to reflect the plurality of ideas that enrich the formulation and execution of Mexican foreign policy, for which it offers the consideration of the readers of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior the work of six outstanding specialists in various areas of the knowledge of international relations, master lectures by three direct participants in international diplomatic events, and reviews of news books.

This special issue of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior promotes reflection on the position that Mexico occupies in international relations at the beginning of the 21st century. To this end, 17 specialists from the Foreign Ministry were invited to share their ideas about the achievements and challenges of the government of President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (1994-2000) in terms of foreign policy. In their capacity as co-participants of Mexican foreign policy in that period, nobody better to explain the objectives and the challenges faced and, perhaps also, to evaluate the pending subjects. In any case, the ideas of the officials gathered here are indispensable in the debate on Mexico's foreign policy in the period 1994-2000.

The Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior includes in this issue essays in which, from different angles and national and cultural perspectives, as well as from different personal, academic and professional experiences, they answer a series of questions about the path that the diplomat of the new century must travel in the transition from the old world order of the Cold War to the new and uncertain 21st century: what are the tasks and responsibilities of the diplomat in the world of globalization? To what extent have the great transformations of our time come to affect, or modify, the traditional functions of the diplomat? What role should the foreign service play at a time when many new actors are actively participating in international events? After reading the texts included in this volume there are three conclusions, the first of which is that the new times require highly technical diplomatic training; the second lies in the importance of combining this training with the traditional values of diplomacy and the due and essential humanistic training. Knowing how to use the advanced technology available should be a valuable tool to perform successfully in a highly competitive international environment, without this goes to the detriment of the valuable intrinsic meaning of the diplomatic function, nor of the human content of the career professional, and the third conclusion is the great value of the ability to understand, imagination and dynamism as essential features of the diplomat’s profile contemporary.