Title: The Anatomy of a Relationship. A Collection of Essays on the Evolution of U.S.-Mexico Cooperation on Border Management
By: Woodrow Wilson Center
The conventional wisdom among those who study the border is that following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States unilaterally imposed significant additional security requirements on the management of the U.S.-Mexico border, and that the measures taken to meet these requirements have made the border more difficult to cross for not only illicit but also licit traffic, including the trade and travel that is the lifeblood of cross-border communities. There is a great deal of truth in this interpretation, but it largely portrays Mexico as a passive receptor of U.S. policy, which could not be further from the truth.
