Discussing Taliban dynamics; Dynamics of regional countries and extremist/terrorist groups; Pashtun Reawakening movement.

Lila Abed and I briefed the Consumer Technology Association on Mexico developments.

Discussion of challenges and initiatives underway to combat corruption in Mexico

This talk and discussion focused on the role and responsibilities of US Economic Diplomacy. These are the PowerPoint slides I used.

I was honored to provide closing remarks for the discussion.

Daniel Kimmage described the work of the State Department's Global Engagement Center (GEC) in working to counter disinformation efforts by rivals like Russia and China and in building a network of like-minded international partners in this important work.

Former Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, set to serve as the country’s next economy minister, brings a breadth of experience that will be critical for navigating U.S.-Mexico relations ahead of a review of the countries’ trade deal, according to analysts who say the incoming Mexican president has made strategic choices for top posts.

Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, elected in a landslide, announced a first tranche of cabinet picks in June that included Ebrard, her erstwhile rival for their party’s nomination. According to analysts, Ebrard’s experience – including as an interlocutor with top U.S. officials in the Biden and Trump administrations during his tenure as foreign minister – make him a wise choice for economy minister, a position that oversees foreign trade and other economic matters.

“He has experience in complex, high-stakes negotiations,” Dentons Global Advisors partner Antonio Ortiz-Mena, former head of economic affairs at the Mexican Embassy in Washington, told Inside U.S. Trade, citing Ebrard’s time as foreign minister from 2018 to 2023. Ebrard, a former mayor of Mexico City, also brings considerable domestic experience that will serve him in the new role, he said.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Earl Anthony Wayne, now a public policy fellow at the Wilson Center, offered a similar assessment, highlighting Ebrard’s efforts to build positive working relationships with U.S. officials in the current and previous administrations. Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming U.S. presidential election, he said, Ebrard would be in a strong position to lead Mexico in an upcoming statutorily mandated review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, set for 2026.

“I think Claudia Sheinbaum wanted that expertise, wanted that wisdom, and there aren’t too many people that embody that,” he said. ...

I joined others in this 90 minute tour de force about the current situation in Afghanistan, the Taliban regime and the state of the Afghan opposition.

Interviewed about scope and potential impact of Supreme Court decision on Presidential Immunity. The interview is with Arise Evening News broadcast in Nigeria and via internet internationally.

Several former Afghan officials offer ideas for pressing to achieve a more inclusive government in Afghanistan. One that respects human rights and reflects the interests of more Afghans.

Join us for a conversation with Ambassador Tony Wayne, former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, and Ms. Rachel Poynter, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Mexico and Canada, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State, on the upcoming elections in Mexico.

Rachel Poynter, a career member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for North America, covering our bilateral relationships with Mexico and Canada. She most recently served as the Director of the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination in the Western Hemisphere Affairs Bureau, where she coordinated the Bureau’s work on regional and global issues, foreign assistance planning in Latin America and the Caribbean, congressional affairs and hemispheric strategy development. Ms. Poynter previously served as the Director of the Office of Mexican Affairs and the Department’s U.S.-Mexico Border Coordinator. She was the Director for North American Affairs at the National Security Council from 2013-14, a portfolio that included preparing the President for his participation in the North American Leaders Summit. Ms. Poynter spent five years working in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and was a Brookings Fellow with the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, where she worked on trade issues. She has a Master of Public Affairs and a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies, both from the University of Texas at Austin.

Earl Anthony Wayne is the Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer and Distinguished Diplomat in Residence, Foreign Policy & Global Security at American University. In addition to his role at AU, Wayne is a Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Co-Chair of its Mexico Institute Advisory Board. He is a Senior Non-Resident Adviser at the Atlantic Council and at the Center for Security and International Studies. Ambassador Wayne served as a U.S. diplomat from 1975 to 2015, including as Ambassador to Argentina (2006-2009), Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs and Deputy Ambassador in Kabul, Afghanistan (2009-2011), and Ambassador to Mexico (2011-15). He was Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs (EB) under three Secretaries of State (2000-2006) and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe (1997-2000). The U.S. Senate confirmed him as a Career Ambassador, the highest rank in the US Foreign Service, in 2010. He received multiple honors during his government service, including the 2017 Director General’s Cup for the Foreign Service and the 2015 Cobb Award for Initiative and Success in Trade Development.

Ambassador Wayne has an MPA from Harvard University’s JFK School of Government, MAs from Princeton University and Stanford University (Political Science), and a BA (Political Science) from the University of California, Berkeley. note this is a hybrid event - you have the option to attend in person or virtually. Registrations are required for all attendees. For in-person attendees, the event will run from 12 - 2 pm and will include lunch. The live stream will begin shortly after 1 pm (virtual attendees will be sent a link for the event via email).

All those interested in Latin America and the Caribbean are welcome to attend LAC Luncheons.

One of a series of USMCA roundtables hosted by Brookings