The neighborhood with the main economic and military power in the world entails challenges and opportunities for Mexico. In this issue of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior, in its first part, some of the many and varied issues of the complex Mexico-United States relationship are analyzed, as well as some of the challenges it must face. In addition, the second part includes other essays on topics of global interest in international relations.

Based on the belief that we are facing a turning point in the history of international relations, the Matías Romero Institute for Diplomatic Studies proposed holding a seminar with specialists in diplomatic affairs from various countries to discuss and examine the characteristics of the diplomat in this era of globalization based on the trends that are shaping the new structures that will govern the course of the world in the 21st century. The papers included in the central section of this journal were presented at the seminar "The Profile of the Diplomat in the Globalization Era" held in July 1994.

This issue of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior is dedicated to a quick overview of the outstanding aspects of Mexico's foreign policy during the last six years corresponding to the administration of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. Rarely in contemporary history had there been such a profound change in the general picture of international politics and economics as that which occurred after 1988. The end of the bipolar confrontation modified the power relations that had existed since the end of the World War II and gave rise to new alliances and conceptions of international security. In turn, the acceleration of the globalization processes of the economy and the speed of technological changes forced the search for greater efficiency through the formation or deepening of regional economic blocs. The articles gathered here do not intend to fully cover the wide range of issues that they faced in foreign policy during the six-year term that is about to end. They are only a starting point that provides elements for further research on Mexico's international relations in the difficult years of change at the global level from 1988 to 1994.

Since the beginning of the current administration, Mexico has spoken out and actively fought for development cooperation to replace the East/West confrontation, which disappeared at the end of the Cold War. Today, more than ever, new schemes of cooperation and understanding between rich and poor countries are essential, to pave the way towards a new fair and equitable international order as an initial step towards a stage of sustained world growth. The foreign policy defined by President Salinas de Gortari has strengthened the country's presence in the world; Due to this, they have effectively faced the challenges and made the most of the opportunities of the changing international scenario. The recent admission of the country to the OECD and the concomitant struggle that it maintains in various international forums and organizations in search of a new agenda for development that benefits humanity as a whole, are proof of the course of this policy. This issue of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior illustrates the challenges that Mexicans will continue to face on the long road to a new international order.

In a world facing all kinds of contradictions, the internationalization of all affairs and the process of globalization seem to be the fate of our time. The story becomes increasingly universal as our planet has become the global village announced by Mac Luhan two decades ago. The economy has become interdependent and there are a few problems that cannot be solved in isolation by any country. In the texts of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior, the challenges that globalization and interdependence represent in the country's foreign policy are exposed.

To combat poverty, bring down drug trafficking and stop massive international migration, a new stage of stability and sustained world growth is essential to provide jobs and narrow the gap between the developed north and the developing south. In the direction of this objective, Mexican foreign policy through its diversification strategy is actively participating in all international forums and organizations in which the course of world change is decided, promoting new forms of political understanding, multilateral collaboration, economic cooperation and negotiated solutions to conflicts. Mexico has demonstrated with facts that geographical belonging to a certain region is not contradictory with participation in other international markets. This issue of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior deals with different issues related to the diversification of foreign policy.

Activism and multidirectionality are the adjectives that most clearly define the orientation of Mexico's foreign policy in the current international situation. The speed and depth of the changes that have occurred in the international environment during the last four years make it necessary to constantly and permanently attend to various fronts at the same time. In this way, foreign policy deals with the different geographical scenarios, as well as the different forums, giving each of them the place that corresponds to it in the global strategy, whose central objective is to make Mexico a subject, not object of international relations.

How long can a time of transition last? Far from having reached acceptable levels of stability, relations between States and other subjects of international dynamics are defined by the sign of the unstable and even the unpredictable. For this reason, if we try to define what the characteristics of the new international order in gestation will be, only general statements can be made about the formation of large regional economic blocs, the transition from a bipolar structure to one that is multipolar in economic terms and unipolar in terms of economics. military, the preponderance of transnational corporations; the emergence of formulas of universal conduct such as electoral democracy, the market economy and the reform of the State; the polarization between wealth and poverty, and the maintenance of neoprotectionism. Within these general lines, there are a large number of changes of different proportions, advances and setbacks, which surprise us because of the unexpected. For this reason, the analysis parameters and the theoretical paradigms that support the study of international relations are almost permanently reviewed, since yesterday's postulates may no longer correspond to today's reality.

This issue of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior has been made up of several essays in which analytical studies of the international scene are presented, in the same way as on Mexico's bilateral relations. Distinguished members of the Mexican Foreign Ministry and diplomatic representatives from other countries participate in this effort.

This issue of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior includes analyzes and reflections on human rights, their current meaning and their relationship with the United Nations; Mexico's position on the process of change in the OAS; interdependence and globalization; the role played by the integration of Europe in the priorities of Mexican politics; Japan and the Pacific Rim; and the cultural implications of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

With this issue a new stage of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior begins, which throughout its 33 issues has become a multidisciplinary forum in which the various approaches of specialists in foreign policy are reproduced. At IMRED we hope to fill a space conducive to reflection that stimulates the reader to research and analyze the international context. On this occasion the topics discussed are: the meeting of two worlds; the concept of sovereignty; the recognition of the States, and the migratory movements in the world.

The most important event in Mexico's international activities during the year 1991 was having been the promoter and organizer of the first summit of the countries of Ibero-America. As a result of the dialogue and reflection, the heads of state and government of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela formulated a series of final documents, among which the Guadalajara Declaration stands out; Likewise, they decided to institutionalize the Ibero-American Conference as a forum for dialogue and consultation of the Latin American and Iberian community on an annual basis. Another of the highly significant events in the international life of Mexico was having been the promoter and host of the Meeting for the Signing of the Peace Agreements in El Salvador. Gathered on January 16, 1992 at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City, the representatives of the Salvadoran government and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) signed the final peace agreements in El Salvador.