Regardless of where we are on the issue of immigration, legal or illegal, our relationship with Mexico and our understanding of the Mexican people must be a central pillar of American foreign and domestic policy for decades to come. How we manage that relationship will depend in large measure on the degree to which we understand our southern neighbor. That understanding should include an awareness that is cultural, political and human. Without it, both nations, economically co-dependent, will face tougher times.No one gets this idea better than one of Mexico's best know public intellectuals, Jorge Castaneda. A former Mexico Foreign Minister under Vincente Fox, now Global Distinguished Professor of Politics and Latin American Studies at NYU, his new book Manana Forever?: Mexico and the Mexicans
lays out the predicate for that future understanding.My conversation with Jorge Castaneda:
