Diplomacy and International Institutions
Through an in-depth analysis of modern Mexico, Shannon O'Neil provides a roadmap for the United States' greatest overlooked foreign policy challenge of our time: relations with its southern neighbor.
About the Expert
Expert Bio
Shannon K. O'Neil is the vice president, deputy director of studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller senior fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is an expert on Latin America, U.S.-Mexico relations, global trade, corruption, democracy, and immigration.
O’Neil is a member of the board of directors of Rassini Sab de CV (RASSINICPO:Mexico) and the Tinker Foundation. She has lived and worked in Mexico and Argentina, and travels extensively in Latin America. She was a Fulbright scholar and a Justice, Welfare, and Economics fellow at Harvard University, and has taught Latin American politics at Columbia University. Before turning to policy, O'Neil worked in the private sector as an equity analyst at Indosuez Capital and Credit Lyonnais Securities. She holds a BA from Yale University, an MA in international relations from Yale University, and a PhD in government from Harvard University.
O’Neil is the author of Two Nations Indivisible: Mexico, the United States, and the Road Ahead (Oxford University Press, 2013), which analyzes the political, economic, and social transformations Mexico has undergone over the last three decades and why these changes matter for the United States. She is a frequent guest on national broadcast news and radio programs and her written commentary has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs Latinoamerica, Americas Quarterly, Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today, among others. O’Neil has testified before Congress on both Mexico and Latin America, and regularly speaks at global academic, business, and policy conferences. She also blogs on Latin America's Moment, where she analyzes regional policy.
Affiliations:
MacroAdvisory Partners, senior advisor for Latin America
Rassini, member of the board of directors
Tinker Foundation, member of the board of directors
Featured
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United States institutions have led the charge against corruption and corporate malfeasance in Mexico. But they can’t replace a working homegrown legal system. For all the strides Mexico has made in structural reforms, economic growth will remain out of reach until the nation can enforce basic legal rules. You can't blame that on Donald Trump.
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Current Projects
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But President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is wasting the opportunity.
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But President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is wasting the opportunity.
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Dealing with Central American migrants, rising crime and faltering energy supplies will require more U.S. help.
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Mexico can’t end the migrant flow by itself. But it can—and likely will—raise tariffs that target swing states.
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Punishing allies won’t help to rally international support for the restoration of democracy.
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Sadly, they also help keep the country’s repressive regime in power.
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Mexico and Central America can do little to curb migration without robust U.S. support.
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His concentration of power in an already strong presidency bodes ill for civil society and fragile institutions.
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His concentration of power in an already strong presidency bodes ill for civil society and fragile institutions.
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The ascent of leaders who favor free trade opens space for real integration.
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Lopez Obrador’s tacit support for Maduro will diminish his political capital at home and abroad.
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A hapless political opposition fails to capitalize on the president’s mistakes and adapt to the future.
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Investing more in human capital is the region’s best hope to escape the middle-income trap.
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His personalistic presidency threatens years of hard-won institutional gains.
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His personalistic presidency threatens years of hard-won institutional gains.
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Injustice, not economic class, is what’s turning voters against the political establishment.
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Fiery new populist presidents in Brazil and Mexico could turn an old rivalry toxic.
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U.S. programs can make the Northern Triangle a better place to live than to leave.
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Bankrolling the region’s biggest humanitarian disaster won’t win Beijing many friends.
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U.S. administration is coming out on the wrong side of anti-corruption and migration in the hemisphere, with potentially lasting consequences for U.S.-Latin American relations.
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The answer to Venezuela’s crisis is not military intervention. The United States and neighboring countries should instead focus on a widespread diplomatic, financial, and humanitarian response.
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