Point/Counterpoint: U.S-Mexico Defense Relations

Earlier this week, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Mexican Secretary of Public Safety Genaro Garcia Luna signed a Declaration of Principles of Cooperation on Joint Efforts to Secure the U.S.-Mexico Border. The declaration expands on Merida Initiative programs to improve cooperation in intelligence-driven operations, increase bilateral situation awareness of threats, and bolster the personnel, infrastructure, and technology needed to prevent criminal exploitation of entry points.

While border security may seem to dominate the relationship between the United States and Mexico, it is only one of many bilateral issues that the two nations grapple with. The authors of the two essays below have different opinions on the track record of U.S-Mexican cooperation. Dr. Craig Deare argues that ways must be found to enhance collaboration and cooperation in defense relationships, while General Victor Renuart and Dr. Biff Baker contend that the creation of U.S. Northern Command has greatly improved cooperation in all complementary areas of concern.

U.S.-Mexico Defense Relations: An Incompatible Interface
by Craig A. Deare

U.S.-Mexico Homeland Defense: A Compatible Interface
by Victor E. Renuart, Jr., and Biff Baker