Geopolitical Landscapes of Donald Trump examines the role that local actors in Mexico, Central America and the United States have played in shaping the Mexico-Guatemala transborder region.
From governments to business and organized crime, scholars from both Mexico and the United States introduce a sophisticated approach beyond diplomatic communiqués to tell the story of how Mexico became the wall that Donald Trump promised to build. This is a story of how governments defended their sovereignty in their discourse, only to pave the way for punitive policies that hurt their fellow citizens. The inequalities brought by the extractive economy, the homicides and displacement wrought by the systemic violence, the exodus pushed by environmental degradation and the political crisis generated by economic, political, and military elites need to be addressed to make the transborder region livable for its own population.
Geopolitical Landscapes of Donald Trump will be of interest to scholars and students of international relations and Latin American Studies. It will also be of interest to policymakers, practitioners, and general readers who are following US-Mexico and US-Central America relations.
Introduction, Part 1: International Politics: The Role of the United States in the Region, 1. The Policies of the Trump administration toward Mexico and their Impact on Central America, 2. The Influence of the United States on the Mexico-Central America Transborder Region, 3. The new Sentiments of the Nation, the Mexico-U.S. Relations, and their Effect on the Mexico-Guatemala Transborder Region, Part 2: Institutional Policies in the Mexico-Guatemala Transborder Region, 4. The Mexico-Guatemala Institutional Relationship: Many Mechanisms, Few Results, 5. The Mexico-Guatemala Binational Commission: The Impact of Power, Trust and institutional Capacity on its Functioning, 6. Mexico-Guatemala Trade: Challenges and Opportunities to Improve the Bilateral Relationship
Carlos Heredia-Zubieta has been Associate Professor of International Studies at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE), Mexico, since 2009. In 2020, he was appointed Global Fellow by the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He brings with him three decades of experience interacting with Mexican and Central American migrant workers in their home countries and in the United States.
Reviews for Geopolitical Landscapes of Donald Trump: International Politics and Institutional Characteristics of Mexico-Guatemala Relations
"""Heredia’s book is well versed on how the United States externalized its southern border to the Mexico-Guatemala boundary. With an engaging narrative from firsthand experience, it urges cooperative solutions to common challenges"" Úrsula Roldán, Professor, Rafael Landívar University, Guatemala City ""A resourceful book with a critical insight: the disastrous legacy of the Trump years must be reversed. It makes a compelling case: immigration policies in the Central America – North America corridor must be based on democratic norms and institutions"" Jorge Durand, Professor, University of Guadalajara; co-founder, Mexican Migration Project, Princeton University"
