Evidently, along with Pakistan, our southern neighbor is under some risk of collapse.
Of course, there has not been any specific incident named as making the collapse of the Mexican government imminent, it is even noted as less likely than that of Pakistan. Lack of a real change in situation coupled with a change in rhetoric leads me to suspect what has really changed is policy.
(Ironically, sealing off our border would make the collapse of the Mexican government nearly unavoidable, and probably several other Central American nations as well, as the cash flow of Latin American workers from the US back to their families has become a crucial segment of their home nation's economies)
There have been rumors and portents for years about the supposed plan to form a North American Union, combining the US, Canada, and Mexico into more or less a single economic entity. If those be true, this would seem to be one of the initial stages (beyond the purely economic ones). Actually stepping in to help prop up the Mexican government would be an important transitional step, but whether that happens or not remains to be seen.
Now of course, closer economic ties are certainly developing, as economic concerns increasingly trump sovereignty issues. We may indeed someday see the age authors of fiction have written about, when lines of authority are drawn along corporate, and not national, boundaries. But, that is a somewhat one-dimensional vision; many other forces are at work in the world besides the continuing economic globalization.
Still, if you had predicted back in 2000 that an emergent global financial crisis will require extraordinary measures to be taken and cause nationalization of major segments of our economy plus government economic intervention to be ramped up to unprecedented levels, it would have sounded like the introductory plot to a Tom Clancy novel.
Who could have suspected that this would be the reality we face as we slide spinning, off balance, into 2009?
-()4|<.
Of course, there has not been any specific incident named as making the collapse of the Mexican government imminent, it is even noted as less likely than that of Pakistan. Lack of a real change in situation coupled with a change in rhetoric leads me to suspect what has really changed is policy.
The report says a collapse inOh yes, of course. We would no doubt be obligated to step in and prop up a government that has been working so hard to cooperate in our efforts to, say, secure our border.
Mexico seems less likely, but noted that the government infrastructure
is "under sustained assault and pressure" from drug cartels and gangs.
A collapse within the United States' southern neighbor would also
"demand an American response based on the serious implications for
homeland security alone."
(Ironically, sealing off our border would make the collapse of the Mexican government nearly unavoidable, and probably several other Central American nations as well, as the cash flow of Latin American workers from the US back to their families has become a crucial segment of their home nation's economies)
There have been rumors and portents for years about the supposed plan to form a North American Union, combining the US, Canada, and Mexico into more or less a single economic entity. If those be true, this would seem to be one of the initial stages (beyond the purely economic ones). Actually stepping in to help prop up the Mexican government would be an important transitional step, but whether that happens or not remains to be seen.
Now of course, closer economic ties are certainly developing, as economic concerns increasingly trump sovereignty issues. We may indeed someday see the age authors of fiction have written about, when lines of authority are drawn along corporate, and not national, boundaries. But, that is a somewhat one-dimensional vision; many other forces are at work in the world besides the continuing economic globalization.
Still, if you had predicted back in 2000 that an emergent global financial crisis will require extraordinary measures to be taken and cause nationalization of major segments of our economy plus government economic intervention to be ramped up to unprecedented levels, it would have sounded like the introductory plot to a Tom Clancy novel.
Who could have suspected that this would be the reality we face as we slide spinning, off balance, into 2009?
-()4|<.
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At the same time, the Trans-Texas NAFTA highway has been canceled, which is a good thing.
If a North American Union were to be created, I would think that the non-Mexico countries would be pushing this as a great plan. Once Mexico is in the thick of political and/or economic chaos, the US and Canada will want stay out of it until the smoke clears and Mexico has some semblance of a government again. It would be suicidal to join a faltering US economy with a 'could-be-destroyed-at-any-second' economy.
Then again, we have some really bright leaders in Washington who think that spending $1,000,000,000,000 will solve all our problems.
The power vacuum created in the event of the Mexican government collapsing would be a serious security issue.
The power vacuum created in the event of the collapse of the government of Pakistan is more frightening. They would have uncontrolled nukes and a neighbor with whom they do not get along.
(Previous version of the post had a typo in it.)
Mexico has been collapsing my entire life.
It would obviously create a worsening national security situation for us. It would also create even greater immigration into the U.S.
While Pakistan's collapse could have some obviously frightening consequences of huge proportions, their consequences may have a lesser long term impact upon the U.S. than Mexico's collapse.
The increased immigration would speed the collapse of American society and in the long run turn us into a Hispanic dominated society and culture.
Mexico will struggle with their drug cartels and their influence as long as two things continue--U.S. demand for illegal drugs and Mexico's tolerance for corruption.
This just in...
"Trans-Texas Corridor Born Again As 'Innovative Connectivity Plan'".
Article at http://www.jbs.org/index.php/news-feed
-archive/4346
"But a bill eliminating that entire section of law has been filed. If the bill is passed, TxDOT would no longer have the authority to build the road/rail/utility corridor. So, Governor Perry and his toll road backers have to move quickly."
There is some hope, not much, but some.
The situation is akin to someone having trouble with people breaking into a house, then widening the door while talking about increasing security.
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