Political Science

Immigration, minerals, drugs and political differences often generate a number of issues which translate to tension between countries. The diplomatic methods used by countries especially when addressing matters of national concern also determine how best countries can relate to each other. It was not the exception in the relationship between the USA and Mexico.

Much of the conflict between the two states was due to the disparities in wealth, intervention by the United States, cultural differences and the interdependence between the two countries, especially in socioeconomic and political issues. The whole period from 1821 to1980 was quite controversial for both Mexico and the United States. It is during this period that Mexico lost a large part of its territory and natural resource to the United States government. The territorial losses have not been forgotten even in the modern day Mexico (Gregory, 2001). It is worth noting that both countries share a maritime and a land border in North America and their history has a number of treaties which both countries have consented to.

This is the same period corresponding to the emergence of the Texas revolution. It was a conflict between the military and a number of settlers from America who had settled on the portion of Texas reserved for Mexico. The Mexican settlers felt that they were being outnumbered by settlers whose origin was from the United States. In response to this, the then Mexican president formulated some measures which were prohibiting any further immigration to Texas from the United States (Gregory, 2001). The measures were also to subject the immigrants to property tax law which they were previously exempted from.

However, the measures from the president did not achieve the intended objective since by 1834 there were over 30,000 English speakers compared to only 8,000 Mexican-born citizens. This was regarded as a plot by the U.S government to take over the Texas region. Due to this, the Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna abolished the 1824 constitution and adopted an anti-federalist constitution which laws were quite unpopular. This eventually sparked protests among the citizens, especially from Texas where the American immigrants had inhabited. In response to this, the president said that all foreigners found importing arms either by land or sea will be dealt with as piracy and would be punished in accordance with the law. He further wrote to the American president, Andrew Jackson, indicating that any American fighting the Mexican government would be treated as a pirate (Gregory, 2001). However, this information was not widely distributed making the American recruits serving in the Texas army to be war prisoners. Later, Santa Anna was defeated and Texas was able to claim its independence form Mexico in 1836.

Another exposure of the bad relations between Mexico and the United States was during a military clash between Mexico and America over a border dispute. The Mexican-American war took place between 1846 and 1848. The main source of animosity was attributed to the fact that Texas had won its independence from Mexico in 1836. This was not a surprise to many since Mexico had earlier warned that the independence of Texas would definitely amount to war .This was due to the fact that congress in Mexico had rejected Texan independence thus any diplomatic relations and dialogue were broken. Britain and France were involved in negotiating with Mexico not to go into war but their efforts proved futile. To the Mexican government, the independence of Texas had tarnished the Mexican image. In fact, this conflict saw the presidency change hands for four times in a span of one year. The Mexican country is also known to have defied the United States in its quest to have Latin America separated from the Cuban communist regime. The country also challenged the United States in ending the regional conflicts in Central America.

The two countries had conflicting opinion about drug trafficking .Mexico was acting as the producer opening the entry for drugs from South America into the United States. Controversy between the two countries existed since Mexico was accusing the United States of not doing enough to halt the drug business within its jurisdiction. On the other hand, the United States was accusing the Mexican government of not doing enough in the implementation of domestic anti-drug measures.

However, the two countries later resolved their differences by entering into a cooperation agreement in 1989.The agreement was aimed at fighting the underground drug trafficking. The agreement had the contention that Mexico was to dedicate much of its effort in curbing the production of drugs and the trade within its territory. Mexico lived to fulfill the agreement and can now claim to be having the largest percentage of its army involved in the government funded drug eradication program.

In other times, Mexico and the United States agreed on some issues. For instance, during the reign of Benito Juarez the Mclane-Ocampo treaty was signed. The treaty gave the United States an exit and entry point canal in the Mexican Isthmus and also the right to protect it with its military. This was the time when Juarez was in need of 2 million which was granted in the treaty. This was mainly because his liberal party was on the verge of going into the Civil War with some conservatives who believed that the treaty was actually a sell-out of the land. The conservatives brought in the French armies to protect the Mexican resources from what they felt were a form of exploitation from the U.S. government. The United States joined forces with the Mexican forces to oppose the French armies which they successfully did (Gregory,  2001). What followed was that the Mexicans were now living in fear because they felt that the U.S capitalists who were probing the South were up to no good but to mine and exploit minerals in Mexico. The Mexican-American were treated badly by the Anglophones but the country gained economically due to the presence of the Americans in the South.

Trade also promoted some good relations between the two countries. This was facilitated by an agreement which was signed in 1989. The agreement sought for the expansion of bilateral trade between the two countries and proved the removal of trade and investment barriers which existed between Mexico and the United States as well as Canada.

The last generation has seen the issue of the relationship between Mexican and the United States rise to be part of the American foreign policy agenda. Business, culture and community relations are drawing the two countries closer. It is actually reported that trade between the two countries has increased threefold and over four million citizens have moved to the North. Expatriates from American are assisting the country to forge its political, social and economic identity though there is uncertainty on whether the country will follow a path of stability of one of instability. Building better relationships with Mexico is also part of the agenda in the Obama administration. President Barrack Obama is focusing on taking a different path from that of his predecessor. It is evident that George W. bush did not live up to the role of being the leader in the Western hemisphere, his administration was rather rocked by numerous distractions due to the Gulf war. During his administration, the ties between the two countries widened since Mexico was not in agreement with the United States to go into war with Iraq. This was the same time that Felipe Calderon traversed through the United States without paying any visit to Washington (Gregory, 2001). However, this was not a surprise since George Bush had done negligible work to improve the relations between the two countries.

The Obama administration has promised that the bad relations between the two countries will be a thing of the past since he is in the process of formulating a renewed strategic partnership which will ensure that there is mutual prosperity and security between the two countries. Obama has noted that once he assumes office he will convene annual meetings which will call for the presence of Felipe Calderon and the Canadian prime minister. He says that the meetings will be transparent and will be seeking for the active involvement of citizens from the three countries. Top on the agenda items is how to deal with illegal immigration and the transnational criminal organizations which jeopardize the lives of the citizens from either of the countries.

Finally, it is important to point out some of the strategies that the United States is to use in uniting the two countries. The country seeks to increase real time intelligence, invest in anti-drug education, employ measures to counter smuggling of arms and co-operate with the country in ensuring that laws within the two countries are enforced with professionalism.