Mexico: A leader in search of like-minded peers
| Published date | 01 December 2016 |
| Author | Günther Maihold |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702016687336 |
| Date | 01 December 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Scholarly Essays |
International Journal
2016, Vol. 71(4) 545–562
!The Author(s) 2017
Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0020702016687336
journals.sagepub.com/home/ijx
Scholarly Essay
Mexico: A leader in
search of like-minded
peers
Gu
¨nther Maihold
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Ludwigkirchplatz 3-4,D-10719
Berlin, Germany
Abstract
Over the last decade Mexico has chosen and has been forced to practice a sort of
‘‘stand alone’’ foreign policy, in part due to its marginalization in Latin America, in part
due to the growing bilateralization of relations in the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) context. The national narrative of acting as a bridge in economic
terms for accessing the NAFTA market proved not very attractive to international
partners. As a result, Mexico has become the classical ‘‘leader without followers.’’
Joining the MIKTA initiative, a grouping formed by Mexico, Indonesia, South Corea,
Turkey and Australia, is a highly welcomed option for regaining international presence
without the Brazilian shadow, so strong in the region, and for defining a specific inter-
mediary role. Mexico clearly embraced a ‘‘Southern’’ identity only in very limited
moments of its foreign policy history and always tried to maintain a middle way, as
an agreeable voice and a helpful fixer for international conferences and meetings. The
old/new formula that seems to feed Mexico’s new international MIKTA presence is that
of ‘‘multiple memberships’’ following a rationale of ‘‘like-mindedness,’’ a rationale that
allows for promoting its presence in a great variety of institutions and regional integra-
tion schemes, but without compromising too much of its national economic develop-
ment priorities. This article analyzes these half-way/soft doctrinal foundations of
Mexican foreign policy with respect to Mexico’s identification with and outreach to
the MIKTA group, both in terms of collective action and of bilateral efforts to establish
viable relations with its members.
Keywords
Mexico, MIKTA, NAFTA, bridge, foreign policy, like-minded
Corresponding author:
Gu¨nther Maihold, Deputy Director, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin, Germany.
Email: guenther.maihold@swp-berlin.org
In November 2012 the Economist published its weekly issue under the title ‘‘The
rise of Mexico,’’ calling for the United States (US) to take a look at its increasingly
important neighbour, accompanied by an op-ed of then newly elected Mexican
president Enrique Pen
˜a Nieto entitled ‘‘Mexico’s moment.’’ At the time, there
seemed to be a new opening for a country that had a limited international presence
due to a growing tide of violence, drug trafficking, and internal turmoil.
1
In
February 2014, a Time magazine cover followed up with a photo of the Mexican
president and the title ‘‘Saving Mexico,’’ in praise of his sound reform record. The
‘‘Mexican Moment’’ was essentially based on the ‘‘Pact for Mexico,’’ a multi-party
accord designed to craft structural reforms in key economic sectors such as energy,
telecommunications, and education through constitutional changes
2
in an attempt
to de-securitize the internal as well as the foreign policy agendas. This was espe-
cially true for relations in the case of the US, which had been reduced to the
bilateral security concerns of drug and arms trafficking, border security, and migra-
tion control. There was as well a heated debate on the ‘‘criminal insurgency’’ in
Mexico,
3
an evaluation forwarded by US government officials that prompted
immediate reaction from the Mexican government, which had consistently rejected
even the mere concept of allowing American troops on its soil.
Mexico’s new government needed a new foreign policy narrative, not only due
to the monothematic format of the relationship with its northern neighbour, but
also in view of the growing influence of regional and international protagonist
Brazil, its traditional rival. The present text focuses on the soft doctrinal adapta-
tions the government of President Pen
˜a Nieto introduced in order to generate
larger foreign policy leverage for his country. An essential part of this effort is
the implementation of multiregional coalitions as an innovative expression of
Mexico’s traditional interest in multilateral activism as a means to diversify the
(inter)dependence with the US. As the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) cooperation had reached its full implementation in terms of foreign
policy, the cooperation in the MIKTA format with Indonesia, South Corea,
Turkey and Australia (MIKTA), for Mexico, offered a new opportunity to
relaunch the country internationally in this culturally heterogeneous group.
MIKTA opened up a new front of incursion for Mexico’s up-to-now very limited
interaction among its members, enabling the country to enhance mutual confidence
and political coordination with new potentially attractive counterparts.
1. Ana Covarrubias, ‘‘Mexico’s foreign policy under the Partido de Accio
´n Nacional: Promoting
democracy, human rights, and interests,’’ in Gian Luca Gardini and Peter Lampert, eds., Latin
American Foreign Policies: Between Ideology and Pragmatism (New York: Palgrave McMillan,
2011), 213–233.
2. Shannon O’Neil, ‘‘Six markets to watch: Viva Las Reformas,’’ Foreign Affairs, January–February
2014. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/mexico/2013-12-06/six-markets-watch-mexico
(accessed 27 December 2016)
3. John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker, Mexico’s Criminal Insurgency (Bloomington: Small Wars
Journal Foundation, 2012).
546 International Journal 71(4)
To continue reading
Request your trial