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Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together
There may be no story today with a wider gap between fact and fiction than the relationship between the United States and Mexico.
Wall or no wall, deeply intertwined social, economic, business, cultural, and personal relationships mean the US-Mexico border is more like a seam than a barrier, weaving together two economies and cultures.
Mexico faces huge crime and corruption problems, but its remarkable transformation over the past two decades has made it a more educated, prosperous, and innovative nation than most Americans realize. Through portraits of business leaders, migrants, chefs, movie directors, police officers, and media and sports executives, Andrew Selee looks at this emerging Mexico, showing how it increasingly influences our daily lives in the United States in surprising ways -- the jobs we do, the goods we consume, and even the new technology and entertainment we enjoy.
From the Mexican entrepreneur in Missouri who saved the US nail industry, to the city leaders who were visionary enough to build a bridge over the border fence so the people of San Diego and Tijuana could share a single international airport, to the connections between innovators in Mexico's emerging tech hub in Guadalajara and those in Silicon Valley, Mexicans and Americans together have been creating productive connections that now blur the boundaries that once separated us from each other.
Wall or no wall, deeply intertwined social, economic, business, cultural, and personal relationships mean the US-Mexico border is more like a seam than a barrier, weaving together two economies and cultures.
Mexico faces huge crime and corruption problems, but its remarkable transformation over the past two decades has made it a more educated, prosperous, and innovative nation than most Americans realize. Through portraits of business leaders, migrants, chefs, movie directors, police officers, and media and sports executives, Andrew Selee looks at this emerging Mexico, showing how it increasingly influences our daily lives in the United States in surprising ways -- the jobs we do, the goods we consume, and even the new technology and entertainment we enjoy.
From the Mexican entrepreneur in Missouri who saved the US nail industry, to the city leaders who were visionary enough to build a bridge over the border fence so the people of San Diego and Tijuana could share a single international airport, to the connections between innovators in Mexico's emerging tech hub in Guadalajara and those in Silicon Valley, Mexicans and Americans together have been creating productive connections that now blur the boundaries that once separated us from each other.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 5, 2018
39 people are currently reading
703 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Selee
10 books17 followersAndrew Selee is the President of the Migration Policy Institute (www.migrationpolicy.org) and the former Executive Vice President of the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he also founded the Center's Mexico Institute. He has written and been interviewed extensively in the US and global press.
Selee was born and raised in the United States and has lived in Mexico and Denmark.
Selee was born and raised in the United States and has lived in Mexico and Denmark.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 22, 2018
A pretty good book about the growing interdependence of the US and Mexico, mostly to the benefit of both countries. For instance, Tiajuana and San Diego share a new international airport, located just south of the border in Mexico. Access is by a “bridge over the wall,” and the two cities are working on other collaborations.
Mexican companies have made substantial acquisitions in the US, and employ thousands of Americans in their plants. Mexico is the first or second-most important export market for 30 US states. In 2013, Mexico finally lifted the ban on outside participation in the Mexican petroleum industry. In one surprising result, Mexico now buys about half of US natural-gas exports.
As in so many things, Donald Trump is out of touch with reality re Mexican migrants. The mass migration is over — better times at home means less reason to leave. That said, the US now has around 11.6 million residents born in Mexico, and about half of those are undocumented. About a million former Mexican migrants have returned home. And about a million American citizens are now living as expatriates in Mexico.
And, of course, Mexico still faces huge problems at home, but they are on their way to becoming a reasonably prosperous and democratic middle-class country. And they are our neighbors. Best to get along.
Why just 3 stars? Some of the topics didn't really interest me: the drug wars, sports, movies. And his writing is just OK. But I recommend reading it, if you are interested in Mexico. I am.
-----------------
The review that led me to read it (paywalled):
https://www.wsj.com/articles/vanishin...
Excerpt:
"He tells engaging stories of places and people transformed by it. In Poplar Bluff, Mo., at the first annual picnic after a Mexican company “saved the American nail industry . . . there were tacos alongside the usual hot dogs, hamburgers and pork barbecue.” Terry Wanzek, a North Dakota farmer, is now a primary producer of beans for industrialized parts of Mexico. Mexican bosses control most of the U.S. large-scale bakery business, while “tortillas have . . . outsold white sandwich bread in the United States since 2010.” And a million-or-so U.S. citizens have migrated to Mexico in recent years, pursuing what Mr. Selee cutely calls the “Mexican Dream”: They’re typified by bloggers Frank and Katie O’Grady, for whom “colonial-era churches, flower-covered walls, and springlike weather” make San Miguel de Allende “simply home.”
40-some years ago, I bought my house in Tucson from a lady who was retiring to San Miguel, and I can attest to the attractions of that area, and many others in Mexico. We thought about retiring there, too.
Mexican companies have made substantial acquisitions in the US, and employ thousands of Americans in their plants. Mexico is the first or second-most important export market for 30 US states. In 2013, Mexico finally lifted the ban on outside participation in the Mexican petroleum industry. In one surprising result, Mexico now buys about half of US natural-gas exports.
As in so many things, Donald Trump is out of touch with reality re Mexican migrants. The mass migration is over — better times at home means less reason to leave. That said, the US now has around 11.6 million residents born in Mexico, and about half of those are undocumented. About a million former Mexican migrants have returned home. And about a million American citizens are now living as expatriates in Mexico.
And, of course, Mexico still faces huge problems at home, but they are on their way to becoming a reasonably prosperous and democratic middle-class country. And they are our neighbors. Best to get along.
Why just 3 stars? Some of the topics didn't really interest me: the drug wars, sports, movies. And his writing is just OK. But I recommend reading it, if you are interested in Mexico. I am.
-----------------
The review that led me to read it (paywalled):
https://www.wsj.com/articles/vanishin...
Excerpt:
"He tells engaging stories of places and people transformed by it. In Poplar Bluff, Mo., at the first annual picnic after a Mexican company “saved the American nail industry . . . there were tacos alongside the usual hot dogs, hamburgers and pork barbecue.” Terry Wanzek, a North Dakota farmer, is now a primary producer of beans for industrialized parts of Mexico. Mexican bosses control most of the U.S. large-scale bakery business, while “tortillas have . . . outsold white sandwich bread in the United States since 2010.” And a million-or-so U.S. citizens have migrated to Mexico in recent years, pursuing what Mr. Selee cutely calls the “Mexican Dream”: They’re typified by bloggers Frank and Katie O’Grady, for whom “colonial-era churches, flower-covered walls, and springlike weather” make San Miguel de Allende “simply home.”
40-some years ago, I bought my house in Tucson from a lady who was retiring to San Miguel, and I can attest to the attractions of that area, and many others in Mexico. We thought about retiring there, too.
June 23, 2018
If you want to really know how we in the USA currently stand in our relationship with Mexico, then this is the book to read for sure. At a time when all the rhetoric being spewed by our current administration is anti-immigrant (Mexicans mostly being in the receiving end of it), Andrew makes the case that we're more interrelated to our southern neighbor than we may think, and he proves it magnificently. Be ready to be informed and then some! And you don't need to be a financial wizard, or have a degree in international studies or political science, to understand it all. Andrew moves from one aspect of our linked societies to another with ease, pointing out some of the differences but, more importantly, many of the similarities that are helping all of North America become one region. The recent news about Canada, USA, and Mexico hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup is no coincidence, trust me! The contributions from Mexico to the USA, and viceversa, reach much farther than just our common, southern border, or "la frontera."
Reading the first chapter of this book felt like taking a trip down memory lane, since I worked and lived in Tijuana at the time Andrew did also. The chapter that talks about Mexicans returning to their country, after growing up in the USA, also touched me deeply as I can certainly relate to their feelings of homesickness. I am from Puerto Rico, but have lived in Texas longer that I did in the island. As nostalgic as I sometimes feel for "home," I don't think I'd be able to fully adjust to life in Puerto Rico again.
Personally, I think this book was written and published at the perfect time. In Spanish we would say, "en hora buena." The information found in it, laced with the author's personal anecdotes, makes it an "eye-opener" for all who really care to know and understand how important it is for the USA to continue working for unity with our neighbors, both to the north and south, instead of further isolating ourselves. If we want "America," if we want our whole region to be strong and prosperous, then we should continue strengthening the bonds that tie us all together.
Reading the first chapter of this book felt like taking a trip down memory lane, since I worked and lived in Tijuana at the time Andrew did also. The chapter that talks about Mexicans returning to their country, after growing up in the USA, also touched me deeply as I can certainly relate to their feelings of homesickness. I am from Puerto Rico, but have lived in Texas longer that I did in the island. As nostalgic as I sometimes feel for "home," I don't think I'd be able to fully adjust to life in Puerto Rico again.
Personally, I think this book was written and published at the perfect time. In Spanish we would say, "en hora buena." The information found in it, laced with the author's personal anecdotes, makes it an "eye-opener" for all who really care to know and understand how important it is for the USA to continue working for unity with our neighbors, both to the north and south, instead of further isolating ourselves. If we want "America," if we want our whole region to be strong and prosperous, then we should continue strengthening the bonds that tie us all together.
September 3, 2018
There have always been two traditional ways of viewing Mexico in the modern era: Harry S. Truman’s “good neighbors,” and John Foster Dulles’s caution that the US did not have friends or neighbors, only “interests.” What seemed clear until the most recent presidential campaign was that the relationship was a symbiotic one, and that the two countries cooperated in ways that made the hemisphere more secure, more profitable for its inhabitants, and culturally more deeply connected through a wealth of music, art, cuisine, and literature. Since the campaign and the inauguration of the new administration in Washington, however, anti-Mexican rhetoric has risen sharply, and the complexity of our relationship has been largely obscured. Even the more responsible news outlets have been complicit except for the occasional op-ed piece by Enrique Krause in the New York Times or Andrew Selee in the Wall Street Journal.
So, this full-length study of the US-Mexico relationship by the latter is particularly welcomed. It is a clear, balanced, straightforward account of the mutual dependencies of our two nations, and a counterweight to the hyperbole and rhetoric which has captured the headlines over the past few years. Selee, notable for his work on migration policy and as a scholar with the Wilson Center, has received praise from both parties for his evenhanded analyses. In this fascinating new work, he shows us that Mexico and the US are defined not by any border fences or future walls but rather by the bridges that have been painstakingly built over the years by business leaders, technicians, teachers, artists, investors, and ordinary working folks who have helped blend the two societies in ways that have deepened our cultures, enriched our lives, and created new opportunities for prosperity on both sides of the border. For the past twenty-eight years as a teacher at the American School Foundation in Guadalajara, I have been blessed by students, both US and Mexican, who have completed careers in medicine, journalism, law, international relations, and the arts, and have enriched the lives of those in the communities they serve on both sides of the border and throughout the world. So Seeley's words and descriptions resonated for me with the clarity of experience and daily observation.
While the old rhetoric persists that Mexicans are taking US jobs, Selee points out that Mexican companies now provide many jobs for Americans on US soil. The Mexican baking company known as Bimbo produces Entenmanns, Sara Lee, and Thomas´s English muffins. Another Mexican company produces Wise potato chips which is the official snack of the Boston Red Sox. These firms and others like them provide jobs for thousands of American workers and are completely integrated into the life of the US economy.
The US and Mexico share an interdependence for energy. The US is a major importer of Mexican oil, while Mexico is a major importer of US natural gas which it uses to generate electricity. As far as border protection is concerned, the US would be overrun with Central American immigrants (many fleeing violence for which past US policies are partly responsible) were it not for Mexican interdiction efforts on the southern border with Guatemala. The Mexican government has provided sanctuary to thousands of them, and deported hundreds of others who had questionable backgrounds.
“Vanishing Frontiers” should be required reading for all policy makers and policy shapers from US senators to newspapers editors and journalists. It should be a mandated text in classes on international relations, border studies, and US-Mexico history. But one would also hope that this important book finds a larger audience: all of us who live and work in the US and Mexico that we all might have a clearer, more realistic view of how our self-interests and that of our neighbors are inextricably intertwined.
--Michael Hogan, PhD. Author, Abraham Lincoln and Mexico.
So, this full-length study of the US-Mexico relationship by the latter is particularly welcomed. It is a clear, balanced, straightforward account of the mutual dependencies of our two nations, and a counterweight to the hyperbole and rhetoric which has captured the headlines over the past few years. Selee, notable for his work on migration policy and as a scholar with the Wilson Center, has received praise from both parties for his evenhanded analyses. In this fascinating new work, he shows us that Mexico and the US are defined not by any border fences or future walls but rather by the bridges that have been painstakingly built over the years by business leaders, technicians, teachers, artists, investors, and ordinary working folks who have helped blend the two societies in ways that have deepened our cultures, enriched our lives, and created new opportunities for prosperity on both sides of the border. For the past twenty-eight years as a teacher at the American School Foundation in Guadalajara, I have been blessed by students, both US and Mexican, who have completed careers in medicine, journalism, law, international relations, and the arts, and have enriched the lives of those in the communities they serve on both sides of the border and throughout the world. So Seeley's words and descriptions resonated for me with the clarity of experience and daily observation.
While the old rhetoric persists that Mexicans are taking US jobs, Selee points out that Mexican companies now provide many jobs for Americans on US soil. The Mexican baking company known as Bimbo produces Entenmanns, Sara Lee, and Thomas´s English muffins. Another Mexican company produces Wise potato chips which is the official snack of the Boston Red Sox. These firms and others like them provide jobs for thousands of American workers and are completely integrated into the life of the US economy.
The US and Mexico share an interdependence for energy. The US is a major importer of Mexican oil, while Mexico is a major importer of US natural gas which it uses to generate electricity. As far as border protection is concerned, the US would be overrun with Central American immigrants (many fleeing violence for which past US policies are partly responsible) were it not for Mexican interdiction efforts on the southern border with Guatemala. The Mexican government has provided sanctuary to thousands of them, and deported hundreds of others who had questionable backgrounds.
“Vanishing Frontiers” should be required reading for all policy makers and policy shapers from US senators to newspapers editors and journalists. It should be a mandated text in classes on international relations, border studies, and US-Mexico history. But one would also hope that this important book finds a larger audience: all of us who live and work in the US and Mexico that we all might have a clearer, more realistic view of how our self-interests and that of our neighbors are inextricably intertwined.
--Michael Hogan, PhD. Author, Abraham Lincoln and Mexico.
March 6, 2018
(Note: I received an advanced electronic copy of this book from NetGalley)
In an era where south of the US border is consistently and viciously demonized as a different land that does little more than let the worst of its worst bleed in, Andrew Selee's "Vanishing Frontiers" is much needed. With clear language, well-organized sections and facts upon facts upon facts, this informative work takes what amounts to a sledgehammer to boogymen and unfounded fears spawned by petty nationalism, and makes it quite plain that Mexico is not something to be walled off from the US, both figuratively or literally. He clearly shows that the simple reality of the matter is that the two nations are already bonded together in a wide variety of ways, are only becoming increasingly linked, and to reverse this would fly in the face of longstanding trends, practicality, and common sense.
In an era where south of the US border is consistently and viciously demonized as a different land that does little more than let the worst of its worst bleed in, Andrew Selee's "Vanishing Frontiers" is much needed. With clear language, well-organized sections and facts upon facts upon facts, this informative work takes what amounts to a sledgehammer to boogymen and unfounded fears spawned by petty nationalism, and makes it quite plain that Mexico is not something to be walled off from the US, both figuratively or literally. He clearly shows that the simple reality of the matter is that the two nations are already bonded together in a wide variety of ways, are only becoming increasingly linked, and to reverse this would fly in the face of longstanding trends, practicality, and common sense.
October 9, 2018
Really found reading "Vanishing Frontiers" both enjoyable and reassuring. All the great stories, facts and figures describe the unstoppable forces behind the integration of the USA and Mexico. I am dedicated to learning Spanish for that reason. As the author, Andrew Selee, suggests at the end of his book, it is my hope as well that in the not so distant future, we will be wondering why a book like "Vanishing Frontiers" was ever timely. And that will be because our frontier with Mexico will be seemless and vanished.
June 8, 2018
Vanishing Frontier documents the changing nature of Mexican immigration and Mexico’s economy.
The wave of Mexican immigration to the United States is over. Both China and India send more immigrants. In addition, Mexico’s healthy economy has pushed wages higher leading to a large increase in the middle class. Cheap labor is no longer available in Mexico at least compared to other places in the world like China. Many, if not most, of the border factories have closed. Increasingly, Mexican companies are locating their factories in the United States to stay close to their selling zone. Despite these facts, 25-33% of American citizens dislike Mexico and feel Mexican immigration is a source of unfair trade competition and illegal drugs. Trump’s wall agenda feeds into those feelings.
If you are a supporter of Trump, you will not like Vanishing Frontier’s overarching dislike of his policies. However, there is some interesting information here about how countries move from third world to second. The world has changed with NAFTA and the book explains how the Agreement helps people on both sides of the border to better their lives. 3 stars!
Thanks to the publisher, Perseus/Public Affairs, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.
The wave of Mexican immigration to the United States is over. Both China and India send more immigrants. In addition, Mexico’s healthy economy has pushed wages higher leading to a large increase in the middle class. Cheap labor is no longer available in Mexico at least compared to other places in the world like China. Many, if not most, of the border factories have closed. Increasingly, Mexican companies are locating their factories in the United States to stay close to their selling zone. Despite these facts, 25-33% of American citizens dislike Mexico and feel Mexican immigration is a source of unfair trade competition and illegal drugs. Trump’s wall agenda feeds into those feelings.
If you are a supporter of Trump, you will not like Vanishing Frontier’s overarching dislike of his policies. However, there is some interesting information here about how countries move from third world to second. The world has changed with NAFTA and the book explains how the Agreement helps people on both sides of the border to better their lives. 3 stars!
Thanks to the publisher, Perseus/Public Affairs, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.
December 1, 2020
Vanishing Frontiers is a great book to understand the modern binational relationship between Mexico and the United States.
Andrew Selee breaks down one by one some of the most relevant topics that make the US-Mexico relationship one of the most dynamic on the planet, with key points that include mutual investment, migration, energy cooperation, binational security, reciprocal cultural adoption, exports-imports, bilingualism (English and Spanish) and more.
It's refreshing to read a book that touches on key issues for both countries and citizens on both sides of the border that actually matter beyond biases and speculation.
Long gone should be the days of mutual indifference and welcomed should be the times for better integration.
Andrew Selee breaks down one by one some of the most relevant topics that make the US-Mexico relationship one of the most dynamic on the planet, with key points that include mutual investment, migration, energy cooperation, binational security, reciprocal cultural adoption, exports-imports, bilingualism (English and Spanish) and more.
It's refreshing to read a book that touches on key issues for both countries and citizens on both sides of the border that actually matter beyond biases and speculation.
Long gone should be the days of mutual indifference and welcomed should be the times for better integration.
October 30, 2021
Really interesting. 3.5 rounded up.
September 20, 2018
The author uncovers many views of the relations between the United States and Mexico, with a particular focus on the multitude of interdependencies that tie the countries together. The sheer volume of linkages makes it clear that there will still be ongoing relations after the Trump administration is gone - the main concern is the level of damage that will be inflicted in the meantime.
March 9, 2019
Great book providing insight on how deeply connected Mexico is to the United States and presents key data points that most will find fascinating. Very easy to pick up and read.
April 22, 2023
This book was heavy on assertion and light on evidence. I recognize that the author is at the top of his field, so I do not doubt his claims, but would it have killed him to have cited some concrete data occasionally? The writing was good and the book was very readable, but the points were not all that insightful.
Chapters 6 and 7 were persuasive and engaging and I really enjoyed reading them. It’s a shame that they were sandwiched in between overly long and generally uninteresting sections. The majority of the chapters were composed of slews of anecdotes, far more than were necessary for proving its relatively simple observations. This book might have made a good journal article, but a length of 300+ pages was simply too much for what the argument warranted.
I also disliked the way the book itself was put together. This was not the author’s fault I am sure. Why on earth would the publishers have made Selee’s notes so inaccessible?
Chapters 6 and 7 were persuasive and engaging and I really enjoyed reading them. It’s a shame that they were sandwiched in between overly long and generally uninteresting sections. The majority of the chapters were composed of slews of anecdotes, far more than were necessary for proving its relatively simple observations. This book might have made a good journal article, but a length of 300+ pages was simply too much for what the argument warranted.
I also disliked the way the book itself was put together. This was not the author’s fault I am sure. Why on earth would the publishers have made Selee’s notes so inaccessible?
December 18, 2018
Goodreads website needs to make an equivalent of the 'finished?' button on the website and it needs to be more prominent and easy to use on the app. Now I'm going to switch back to the web app and type out my actual review with a real keyboard.
November 21, 2018
Very interesting look into the ties between the United States and Mexico. Each chapter is pretty much self-contained.
March 23, 2019
Interesting concept, but I'm not sure they're right. There's a lot of ignorance in the world.
September 12, 2021
A little bit slow introduction but then it get more interesting ...
January 31, 2023
Excellent easy read to get to better understand the interconnectedness of US and Mexican culture and their reliance on one another in the social, economic, and political realms.
January 21, 2025
3.5.
Interesting case studies I’ve never thought or heard about! Lots of breadth across many different industries.
Interesting case studies I’ve never thought or heard about! Lots of breadth across many different industries.
June 25, 2018
The future of North America is clear: The U.S. and Mexico will be (and already are) more interconnected than ever before. My review: https://medium.com/@jpark_21/vanishin...
December 31, 2021
Crime usually drops in communities when immigrants move in and national statistics suggest that immigrants commit far fewer crimes than native born Americans.
We built a bridge across the fence.
We built a bridge across the fence.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews