Thanks Andrew for those kind words and thank you to Britton Mullen and the Border Trade Alliance. We are grateful for your long standing partnership with the Mexico Institute. But quite frankly, also for the mission that you have and the work that you do. Especially during a time when I fear that trade and commerce don't get the attention or the respect that they deserve.
We see things a little bit differently here at the Wilson Center. As many of you know the Wilson Center is a unique institution in foreign policy. We're actually congressionally chartered. We're scholarship driven, and we're fiercely nonpartisan and independent. As I tell my directors all the time, that special status also brings with it special obligations, to not duplicate what others are doing, but instead to prioritize the most important issues and opportunities and to do so where we can add value and make a difference.
Mark A. GreenIn other words, the Wilson Center is the perfect place to host this conference. Because finding ways to enhance the competitiveness of the U.S.-Mexico border is crucial for both our nations.
As my friend Ambassador Moctezuma has said roughly a year ago at this very conference, the border reminds us that the threads of our history in our societies are woven together. We have shaped and inspired one another. What began in 1848 as a line drawn in the sand of the desert, has over the years has been transformed into the place where our two nations come close together in so many ways.
But my friends who live far from that region, including both here in Washington and in Mexico City, too often have a different perspective. I'd argue that too often they fail to appreciate the deep historic, cultural, familial and economic ties of the border region. They see the border as a dividing line, an impediment that prevents the kinds of engagement that were underway long before that line was drawn. Yes, the border does delineate a national boundary. All sovereign nations have the right and the obligation to determine who and what can enter the country and under what circumstances.
But at the same time, the major challenges facing our two nations transcends political and geographic boundaries and they are better addressed together. The border is a place of opportunity to address the impact of climate extremes, the global migration refugee crisis, the scourge of drug trafficking and addiction, as well as the attraction of new investment that facilitates trade and spurs economic growth and independence from authoritarian-controlled supply chains.
The impact of these challenges is often more immediate and more acute in the border region. In some ways, the border region is the canary in the coal mine that sees these challenges before others. But eventually, these challenges and the opportunities will impact all of us. We cannot allow biases or political expedience to impede our efforts to address them. I'm preaching to the choir here I know.
But again, as I mentioned earlier, not all who live distant from the border understand it as you do. During today's conference, I know you will touch on many of the issues confronting our political leaders in both countries and at all levels of government. My charge to you is to come up with constructive ways to use the power of the border region and our deep historic ties to advance public policies that can meet these challenges and more. Your countrymen and your countrywomen, quite frankly, are counting on you.
Editor's Note: The above commentary was provided by Ambassador Mark A. Green, president and CEO of the Wilson Center, at a conference hosted June 21, 2023, by the Center. The event was titled “Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border Conference.” It was co-sponsored by the Mexico Institute and the Border Trade Alliance.
Editor's Note: The "Andrew" Ambassador Green mentioned in his commentary referred to was Andrew I. Rodman, director of the Wilson Center.
Editor's Note: The above commentary is the second in a four-part series on the Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border Conference. Click here to listen to Part One.
From 2017 to 2020, Mark A. Green served as Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. He has also served as President of the International Republican Institute, Executive Director of the McCain Institute, President of the Initiative for Global Development, and senior director at the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. Green served as the U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania from mid-2007 to early 2009, as well as four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Wisconsin’s 8th District.
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