Free Republic

With Donald Trump’s rhetoric about Mexican rapists and border walls obviously on their minds, President Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto made a public show of friendship and respect Wednesday.“All too often we’re hearing rhetoric that ignores the enormous contributions that have been made by Mexican Americans and the enormous strengths we draw from the relationship,” Mr. Obama said during a meeting with Mr. Pena Nieto at a summit in Ottawa, Canada. Mr. Obama said the U.S. “is not just a friend and neighbor of Mexico, but the very character of the United States is shaped by Mexican Americans...

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Monday called for greater integration with Canada and the United States in the wake of Britain's vote to split with the European Union. Nieto, who spoke during a stopover in Quebec City, is scheduled to attend a North American leaders summit in Ottawa on Wednesday with his US and Canadian counterparts. The three countries are economic partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and work closely on security matters. At Wednesday's summit, the leaders are expected to announce joint energy and environmental strategies, including matching renewable energy targets. "The purpose of this...

Britain's decision to "leave" the European Union (EU) ended the career of Prime Minister David Cameron, who had campaigned hard to "remain" in that supranational body of unelected bureaucrats. Small-c conservatives in Cameron's own Conservative Party rebelled against the liberals and globalists who dominate both major parties over there. Sound familiar? Everyone agrees that Donald Trump is the big winner of the vote. As the New York Times conceded, the "leave" voters are "eerily similar to Donald Trump's followers, motivated by many of the same frustrations and angers." Trump, who just happened to land in Britain as the results were...

Building a North American Community Chairs: John P. Manley, Pedro Aspe, and William F. Weld Vice Chairs: Thomas P. D'Aquino, Andres Rozental, President, Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, and Robert A. Pastor, Professor and Founding Director of the Center for North American Studies, American University Press Releases: English | French | Spanish Sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations in association with the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales. North America is vulnerable on several fronts: the region faces terrorist and criminal security threats, increased economic competition from abroad, and uneven economic development at...

A new CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force report, North America: Time for a New Focus, asserts that elevating and prioritizing the Canada-Mexico-U.S. relationship offers the best opportunity for strengthening the United States and its place in the world. "It is time to put North America at the forefront of U.S. policy," the report says. "The development and implementation of a strategy for U.S. economic, energy, security, environmental, and societal cooperation with its two neighbors can strengthen the United States at home and enhance its influence abroad." by David H. Petraeus, retired U.S. Army general and chairman of the KKR Global Institute,...

Diane Francis, National Post Editor-at-Large and Bestselling Author of Merger of the Century, toyed with the idea of merging the US and Canada. In fact, Ms. Francis states that “a merger between the two countries isn’t just desirable but inevitable”. She goes on to say that the US and Canada are culturally compatible on all fronts from lifestyles, to values, and aspirations. According to Ms. Francis, over the last several decades, “Canada has become more like America and America more like Canada”. For instance, the US has become more progressive on civil, gay, and women’s rights; and even recently universal...

To some, it is a "corporate coup d'etat," a conspiracy by big business to turn Canada into the 51st state by stealth. Others see it as a plot to destroy the U.S. by forcing it into a North American union with "socialist Canada" and "corrupt Mexico." It is the Security and Prosperity Partnership, a sprawling effort to forge closer ties among the three nations in everything from anti-terrorism measures to energy strategies to food-safety and pesticide rules. Launched two years ago by then prime minister Paul Martin, President George W. Bush and his Mexican counterpart, Vicente Fox, at the so-called...