NS4550 Government and Politics in Mexico

The purpose of this course is to explore the complexities of the Mexican political environment, its power structure, its profound contradictions and the multi stakeholder conflicts that shape Mexican decision making today. While a certain historical perspective is always necessary and unavoidable, this class is about Mexico's current political environment, its security ecosystem and how those two elements affect the homeland security enterprise and North American security in general. 

Prerequisite

NS3510 or NS3181 or permission of the instructor

Lecture Hours

4

Lab Hours

0

Course Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, students:

• Will have built a new systemic framework of understanding that articulates Mexican political geography, governance institutions and stakeholder interrelations.
• Will have new tools to deconstruct Mexican discourse and representations, becoming better observers and analysts of Mexican social dynamics and power struggles by being more familiarized with Mexico’s geopolitical context, its stakeholders and the way in which complex agendas shape Mexican politics and government.
• Will be capable of identifying “points of intervention” for security and defense agendas at the North American scale, while imagining the costs of hostile relations, new opportunities for cooperation, and innovative solutions to historic challenges in North America.