ABSTRACT
Historical analysis of the Mexican security culture unveils a country deeply hurt both by the expansion of the US in the nineteenth century and by the rule of its own authoritarian regimes in the second half of the twentieth century (Domínguez and Fernandez de Castro 2001). The combination of these elements delineated a security culture which was permeated by international distrust and domestic intolerance. Although some of those scars remain in the collective memory, the Mexican security culture has undergone a remarkable transformation in the past 20 years. The association with the US is now seen as an opportunity rather than a threat, even as there is a consensus among the elite that democracy strengthens rather than weakens the political system. Nonetheless, the security culture still faces numerous challenges and obstacles, some of which surpass the capacity of the Mexican government to address them suitably and proficiently.
