North America’s Future: Center for North American
Studies Responds to Vice President Biden’s Call for a
Blueprint for a North American Strategy
Date:
Thursday, October 31 - Friday, November 1, 2013
Time:
2:00 pm-5:00 pm (Thursday) and 9:00 am-5:30 pm (Friday)
Location:
AmericanUniversity, School of International Service (SIS)
Abramson Family Founders Room
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC20016
See campus map here
CONTACT: J. Paul Johnson, American University Communications, 202-885-5943 or via e-mail
at jjohnson@american.edu
WASHINGTON, DC(October 24, 2013)—Vice President Joe Biden in his capacity as chair of
the U.S.-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue, in a visionary address in Mexico City on
September 20, 2013, redefined U.S. policy not just to Mexico but to the entire continent and
called on civil society to support the new approach and offer specific recommendations. In
response to this request, the Center for North American Studies (CNAS) at American University
will hold a high-level two-day public conference," The NAFTA Promise and the North
American Reality: The Gap and How to Narrow It," on October 31 and November 1, 2013.
The conference will examine the rise of NAFTA and the decline since 2001 and offer specific
proposals to improve continental competitiveness and security.
In Mexico, Biden underscored the significance of the continent: “There is no reason why North
America cannot be the most prosperous and most economically viable place of the world in the
21st century....” Then, he developed a comprehensive North American agenda, and said: “We
have been convinced of your message; now make us do it. Hard-working people in our
countries are building our economic partnerships from the ground up every single solitary day.
Our job is to take the difficult steps that make their job easier.”
Assembling leaders from government, media, business, civil society, and academia, CNAS at
American University, in partnership with Tufts University’ Fletcher School Institutions, Law
and Security Center (ILSC), St. Thomas University and Don Regan, Pedro Aspe, the North
American Development Bank, and Pioneer Natural Resources, organized the conference to
identify new paths toward deepening and expanding collaboration among Canada, Mexico and
the United States, and through a specially commissioned public opinion survey in all three
countries and a new North American NGO network, the conference also aims to help the Vice
President "make us do it."
“What distinguishes this conference from most other conferences on NAFTA or North America,”
Dr. Robert Pastor, professor at American University, and founding director of the CNAS, said,
“is that it responds - in three distinct ways directly to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's North
American agenda on competitiveness, security and judicial reform, energy and the environment,
2 immigration, and governance. First, it will offer an analysis of why North America's initial
promise and substantial gains peaked in 2001 and what is needed to reinvigorate the
continent's economy and collaboration. Second, the CNAS commissioned a new opinion
survey in all three countries, which will be completed on the eve of the conference. The survey,
organized by EKOS in Canada and Centro de Estudios de Opinión Pública (CEOP) in Mexico
with Knowledge Networks in the U.S., will allow us to assess the views of the public in all three
countries as to whether they want their governments to pursue more collaboration or less. Third,
by forging a network of nongovernmental organizations working on border and other shared
North American issues, led by the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) and the
Border Trade Alliance based in the Southwest, it will provide a constituency platform to respond
specifically to the request by Biden to help "make him do it."
Leading public figures participating in the conference include: Under Secretary of Commerce
Francisco Sanchez; Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta
Jacobson; Assistant Secretary of Transportation for International Affairs and Aviation Susan
Kurland; Special Assistant to the President and Director of Western Hemisphere Affairs,
National Security Council Ricardo Zuniga; U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce
Walter Bastian; ssistant U.S. Trade Representative John Melle; Assistant Secretary of
International Affairs, Chief Diplomatic Officer for the Department of Homeland Security & former
Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Alan Bersin; former US ambassador to
Canada Gordon Giffin; former US ambassador to Mexico and current special envoy for
international energy affairs in the Department of State Carlos Pascual; Mexican Ambassador to
the United States Eduardo Medina Mora; chief operating officer of Pemex Carlos MurrietaCummings; Javier Treviño, chair of three major committees in the Mexican Congress;
Mexico's Undersecretary for North American Affairs Sergio Alcocer; former Foreign Minister of
Mexico Jorge Castañeda;former director of Mexico's intelligence community Jaime Domingo
López Buitrón; Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. Gary Doer; Assistant Deputy Minister
William Crosbie; former deputy Prime Minister of Canada John Manley; and leading
journalists, including Thomas Friedman and David Sanger of the New York Times, Andres
Oppenheimer of the Miami Herald, Karen DeYoung of the WashingtonPost, and Ray Suarez
of Public Television'sNewsHour.
Manuel Suárez-Mier, a Mexican economist and former diplomat, AU professor and newly
named director of CNAS, said: “The twentieth anniversary of NAFTA presents an opportune
moment for reflection on the progress made and the challenges that remain. It is the aim of this
conference and American University's Center for North American Studies to restart a
conversation about how the three nations of North America can best address their common
challenges and plan for a more prosperous and secure continental future.”
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[ NA/CONF/FINAL NEWS RELEASE - OCT 25 2013]