The Controversial Pivot: The U.S. Congress and North America

by Robert A. Pastor professor and director of the Center for North American Studies, American U (Editor), Rafael Fernanz De Castro (Editor)

Overview

"In 1994, two political events occurred that would have been inconceivable just five years before: the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was launched, and Republicans took control of the U.S. Congress for the first time in 40 years. NAFTA aimed to bind the three North American economies after more than a century in which Mexico and Canada had struggled to keep their distance from the United States. Ironically, at the very moment that Canada and Mexico risked a closer embrace, a new inward-looking U.S. Congress took office, less sensitive to neighbors or international obligations. Concerned Mexicans and Canadians asked: Was it possible to advance NAFTA's goals if the U.S. Congress stepped on the brakes?

This book looks at the NAFTA integration process by focusing on the U.S. Congress. More independent and influential than the Canadian Parliament or Mexican legislature, the U.S. Congress seeks to shape the river banks within which North American integration runs its course, but often it just dams the river. The book presents the work of scholars from Mexico, Canada, and the United States who propose changes in congressional policymaking in order to facilitate a smoother and deeper process of integration within North America.

The chapter authors are I. M. Destler, Neil Nevitte, Kim Richard Nossal, Miguel Basañez, Norman J. Ornstein, and George W. Grayson.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815769231
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/01/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1490L (what's this?)

About the Author

"Robert A. Pastor, Vice President of International Affairs at American University, is the author of many books on U.S. foreign policy and Latin America. Rafael Fernandez de Castro is academic dean of the Department of International Studies at the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico and Director of the Program for the Analysis of U.S.-Mexican Relations."

Editorial Reviews

"This path-breaking effort makes an important contribution to the debate on the benefits of economic integration." —Emmett N. Lombard, Oakland University

From the Publisher

Scholars from the three North American countries examine the role of Congress in the NAFTA integration process, and propose changes in policymaking that could facilitate a smoother and deeper process of integration within North America. Part I addresses the question of how Congress's activities affect Mexico and Canada and how those two governments have tried to influence Congress. Part II explores how Congress's influence on trade policy affects Mexico and Canada, and how people in the three countries view themselves and each other. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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