Key Policy Recommendations
• Establish cooperative work agendas addressing key economic and security issues.
• Re-organize structures to take full advantage of the opportunities from North American cooperation, as well as to resolve problems.
• Reinitiate the North American Leaders' Summits, preferably once a year, but at least every two years.
• Make supply chains more resilient and less dependent on distant suppliers.
• Re-create and improve bilateral mechanisms to deal with homeland security and economic issues outside of USMCA.
• Establish a multi-layered approach to North America that effectively incorporates the many stakeholders in North America's success.
• In the short-term, agendas should include COVID-19 management and recovery; strengthening supply chains; implementing USMCA; revisiting border security; bolstering law enforcement coordination; and rethinking migration management and aid to Central America.
• The medium- and longer-term agendas should include creating a shared vision and structures that enhance mutual prosperity and security, and a focus on issues such as climate change, “green” energy futures, workforce development, the deployment of new technologies, and more cooperative approaches to cybersecurity.

By EARL ANTHONY WAYNE, former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico

Mexico and the United States cannot escape the need to collaborate. The big test is how well the governments can work together with the arrival of President Joe Biden.

The action agenda is urgent: handling migration from Central America, deepening anti-crime coordination, managing the pandemic and recovery, and implementing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), including Mexico’s treatment of energy investments and protection

By EARL ANTHONY WAYNE and SHAUN DONNELLY, both former U.S. ambassadors

The new Joe Biden administration has a great opportunity to rebuild the United States’ international competitiveness and policy effectiveness in ways to assure that the domestic and international policy agendas reinforce each other. This approach can build prosperity at home and simultaneously establish markets, opportunities and partnerships internationally.

The appointments of Jake Sullivan as national security adviser an

Earl Anthony Wayne, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico and co-chair of the Mexico Institute
Advisory Board at the Wilson Center: “Mexico and the United States cannot escape the need to collaborate. The big
test is how well the governments can work together with the arrival of President Joe Biden. The action agenda is
urgent: handling migration from Central America, deepening anti-crime coordination, managing the
pandemic and recovery, and implementing the USMCA trade agreement including Mexico’s treatment of
energy investments and protection of labor rights. The opportunities are also great: building on the USMCA to
boost both economies, enhancing homeland security and reinforcing trust undermined in
recent years. President Biden arrives with the deepest understanding of Mexico of any
U.S. president. His strong predilection is to reinforce cooperation. Until recently, however,
President López Obrador (AMLO) was not welcoming. He also placed a serious legal wrench in
Mexico-U.S. anti-crime cooperation. One can debate why AMLO adopted
this stance, but the challenge is whether the leaders and their teams can rebuild enough
trust to find and implement solutions. The stakes are immense. Legal trade is about $1 million per minute.
That represents about 80 percent of Mexico’s imports. That trade supports almost five million U.S. jobs. Illicit
drug trade fuels tens of thousands of deaths in each country via drug overdoses and
criminal violence. A new surge of Central American migrants would spark a crisis for
the Biden administration. U.S. companies and unions are worried about Mexico’s
implementation of the USMCA. Much work remains to deal with the pandemic’s effects.
The neighbors should quickly establish the dialogue and processes to manage these
challenges well.”

North America must be a high priority for the Biden administration. President Biden understands the issues, having devoted considerable time to the region as vice president. Sadly, however, given the Trump administration’s approach, mutual trust has suffered badly with both of America’s neighbors.

By EARL ANTHONY WAYNE, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s emerging national security team has impressive credentials, reflecting his own deep experience. This will be a big advantage, given the need to “build back better” with the world as well as at home. The tasks include rebuilding institutions battered over the past four years, including the State Department, the intelligence community, and law enforcement and justice agencies.

The daunting international agen

The incoming Biden administration has a great opportunity to rebuild America’s international competitiveness and policy effectiveness in ways to assure that the domestic and international policy agendas reinforce each other. This approach can build prosperity at home and simultaneously establish markets, opportunities and partnerships internationally.

The appointments of Jake Sullivan Jake SullivanBiden formally appoints NSA's Anne Neuberger to key national security position How should Biden re

Among the most pressing issues on U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s to-do list on foreign policy is the war in Afghanistan, which offers only hard choices. But despite the blunders of U.S. President Donald Trump, Afghanistan may actually now have a chance to achieve some form of political settlement and significantly reduced violence.

To pursue a path toward sustainable peace in Afghanistan, Biden’s team must walk a fine line. On the one hand, they must make it clear that peace does not mean sim

Among the most pressing issues on the US president-elect’s to-do list on foreign policy is the war in Afghanistan, which offers only hard choices. But despite the blunders of President Donald Trump, Afghanistan may actually now have a chance to achieve some form of political settlement and significantly reduced violence.

To pursue a path toward sustainable peace in Afghanistan, Joe Biden’s team must walk a fine line. On the one hand, they must make it clear that peace does not mean simply handi

By EARL ANTHONY WAYNE, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico

Mexico’s Congress passed legislation on Dec.15 that restricts the work of foreign government employees in a way that could greatly inhibit U.S.-Mexico cooperation against powerful cross-border criminal organizations, which are moving drugs northward to the United States and arms and illicit proceeds to Mexico. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) signed the law and it took effect on Dec. 19.

Before this grows into a very d

President-elect Biden’s emerging national security team has impressive credentials, reflecting his own deep experience. This will be a big advantage, given the need to “build back better” with the world as well as at home. The tasks include rebuilding institutions battered over the past four years, including the State Department, the intelligence community, and law enforcement and justice agencies.

The daunting international agenda makes it imperative that the president and his advisers draw on

By EARL ANTHONY WAYNE, career diplomat, ambassador and senior advisor with the Project on Prosperity and Development at theCenter for Strategic and International Studies

The following report was first published by the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and is being republished in an abbreviated format in Pulse News Mexico with explicit prior permission.

This report identifies best practices among reconciliation programs used in conflicts around the world that may help p

Mexico’s Congress passed legislation on Dec.15 that restricts the work of foreign government employees in a way that could greatly inhibit U.S.-Mexico cooperation against powerful cross-border criminal organizations, which are moving drugs northward to the U.S. and arms and illicit proceeds to Mexico. President López Obrador signed the law and it took effect on Dec. 19.

Before this grows into a very damaging bilateral problem, the two governments urgently need to engage to address the serious a

Imagine Peace: Connecting Global Solutions on Reconciliation with an Afghanistan Ready for Peace
• This report identifies best practices among reconciliation programs used in conflicts around the world that may help promote reconciliation in Afghanistan, should progress toward peace advance. A team of American University undergraduate researchers at the School of International Service worked under the guidance of former ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne to examine scores of programs in over 30 count

By EARL ANTHONY WAYNE, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico

Mexico’s law enforcement and justice system is now in the spotlight over U.S.-Mexico cross-border crime.

Mexico’ public security and justice systems currently face a series of “stress tests”: handling charges against two former Mexican secretaries for aiding criminal groups trafficking drugs to the United States; the still-ongoing investigation of the November 2018 murders of U.S. citizen women and children in Sonora by members of criminal ...

“The U.S. arrest and release
to Mexico of retired Mexican Defense
Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos on charges
of supporting a drug-smuggling group has
set up a high-profile test for Mexico’s justice
system. Many questions swirl around the
general’s arrest, release and future treatment in Mexico, especially the chances for
a credible Mexican prosecution. Mexico’s
handling of General Cienfuegos’ case will
have a significant impact on U.S.-Mexican
cooperation against deadly cross-border organized crime. Most important to watch for
the long term will be how the management
of the case strengthens or weakens bilateral
collaboration against drug-trafficking groups
that cause tens of thousands of deaths in
the United States and Mexico. We must
keep the real costs of trafficking in focus.
Mexico’s foreign minister and president have
spoken positively about Mexico’s ability to
carry out a serious investigation of Cienfuegos. Other experts are skeptical, given
the poor record of Mexico’s justice system
on cases involving high-profile individuals.
In this case, electronic evidence collected by
U.S. authorities without a Mexican judge’s
approval may not be admissible in Mexican
courts. If the case falters, a bright spotlight
will shine on still-existing flaws in Mexico’s
judicial system. A poorly handled case will
further erode confidence among U.S. law enforcement officials in their Mexican partners
and will erode confidence among honest
Mexican officials in their system. To bolster
trust, the two governments must build new
mechanisms to help prevent corruption of
officials from either country, as part of work
to strengthen and expand effective cooperation against cross-border trafficking.” by me and other experts on the arrest and release to Mexico of retired General Salvador Cienfuegos related to charges of supporting a drug trafficking group.

La captura y liberación del exsecretario de la Defensa Nacional, Salvador Cienfuegos es una gran prueba para el sistema de justicia mexicano. Pero también subraya los desafíos a una relación bilateral más profunda y efectiva para la cooperación contra el narcotráfico.

El caso Cienfuegos está drenando la confianza en ambos lados de la frontera. Como secretario de la Defensa, entre 2012 y 2014, Cienfuegos supervisó la cooperación militar cercana entre México y Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, las aut

A Joe Biden administration can be expected to put U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada relations back into a strategic framework for solving problems and strengthening long-term cooperation. This would include pursuing a more consistent approach to Mexico and Canada, less driven by individual issues and tradeoffs and more concerned with achieving progress across a range of key issues, stretching from trade to public security to economic competitiveness to the environment.

By JAMES B. CUNNINGHAM, JOHN NEGROPONTE, RONALD NEUMANN, HUGO LLORENS, RICHARD OLSON, and EARL ANTHONY WAYNE, all former U.S. ambassadors who served in the region

U.S. President Donald Trump’s last-minute shuffling of senior personnel at the Pentagon, amid what is at best an uncertain endgame for his administration, has renewed speculation that he will attempt to complete the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan before Christmas, or in any event before he leaves office.

US President Donald Trump’s last-minute shuffling of senior personnel at the Pentagon, amid what is at best an uncertain endgame for his administration, has renewed speculation that he will attempt to complete the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan before Christmas, or in any event before he leaves office.

It is difficult to understand what benefit he, or those around him, might believe would be derived from such an impetuous, damaging, and risky course of action. But proceeding—indeed sp

A Biden administration can be expected to put U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada relations back into a strategic framework for solving problems and strengthening long-term cooperation. This would include pursuing a more consistent approach to Mexico and Canada, less driven by individual issues and tradeoffs and more concerned with achieving progress across a range of key issues, stretching from trade to public security to economic competitiveness to the environment.

At the highest level, there will be

By EARL ANTHONY WAYNE, former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico

The recent U.S. arrests of former Mexican secretaries of defense and public security on drug-trafficking charges are an opportunity to boost the fight against cross-border crime groups.

Those charged are innocent until proven guilty, but such arrests and judicial proceedings against official corruption are blows to the criminal groups receiving protection.

In the case of U.S.-Mexico cooperation, these criminal proceedings should spark bo