The Last Good Neighbor

In this treatise, the historian Eric Zolov investigates the political maneuvers of Mexican president Adolfo López Mateos on the international stage during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Other analysts, including Enrique Krauze, have dismissed Mateos's attempts to elevate Mexico's standing in world affairs as fundamentally unserious. Partially, this may be because Mateos left no biography detailing his activities and logic, as his health failed shortly after his administration ended. What Zolov found, however, by exploring the records of the Ministry of Foreign Relations in particular, is that during his term in office (1958–1964), Mateos genuinely engaged in an ambitious effort to move Mexico into the core of international affairs and, in particular to counterbalance, though not necessarily extricate, the extreme influence of the United States. As Zolov explains, Mateos's administration recognized the turbulence in international affairs created by processes such as decolonization and moved to create relationships with developing nations to alter in particular the dynamics of global trade. Zolov admits that the results of this strategy were economically disappointing. However, he maintains that Mexico's aggressive pursuit of new alliances and trading partners led to Mexico being seen as a nation of consequence in the global stage, including by the United States and decolonizing nations. To convey this story of transformation, Zolov proceeds chronologically, focusing on flash points during Mexico's gestating internationalism

Administration (probate law · Economic history · International relations · Ministry of Foreign Affairs · Political science · Politics · World War II · History · Law · Political and Social Dynamics in Chile and Latin America · Politics and Society in Latin America

• L as F alsas D erechas

  Open Access•Luis Herrán Ávila•The Americas A Quarterly Review…•2022

  Add to list