One of the horizons towards which Mexican diplomacy has expanded is the Asia-Pacific region; In the last decade, Mexico has increased both the number and the level of its diplomatic presence in that region, in addition to having joined the main multilateral forums in the area. Mexico's participation in these regional cooperation efforts has been fruitful; between 1988 and 1994, its trade with the nations of that region increased 25%; in 1997, it represented 5.2% of total Mexican trade with the world. However, the international arena is characterized by contradictory trends that generate uncertainty and cause confusion. One of them is constituted by the significant levels of economic growth achieved by many countries—Mexico and the nations of Southeast Asia, in particular—throughout the decade, and the severe financial crisis that they experienced in the second half of the decade. In this special issue of the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior, we invite prominent Mexican diplomats to reflect on the causes and effects of this crisis on the economies of Southeast Asia.