Panel analyzes U.S.-Mexico relationship

dailytrojan.com

By NILANJAN GUHA
March 29, 2016 in NewsExcerpt:

The Center for Public Diplomacy at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism hosted a panel Tuesday to discuss the possibilities for transformation in the relationship between the United States and Mexico based on the result of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The panelists included Arturo Sarukhan, the former Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. and a CPD distinguished fellow; León Krauze, a journalist, author and news anchor; and Pamela Starr, director of the U.S.-Mexico Network at USC and an associate professor of public diplomacy and international relations. The panel was moderated by Tom Hollihan, a professor of communication management at USC Annenberg, and centered on the bilateral ties between the two countries and the partisan rhetoric used by Democratic and Republican presidential candidates.

The panelists talked about how Mexico perceives the U.S. at this juncture, as well as the impacts of the campaign on the bilateral agenda. They also emphasized the public diplomacy footprint that will impact future relations between the U.S. and Mexico. ... 

The student attendees found that it was important to have panelists with ties to Mexico because of their differing perspectives.

“It was good to have [opinions] from people who are from Mexico or are who are studying in Mexico,” said Michael Karakashian, a graduate student in public diplomacy. “There is a difference in perception, the people who were born and raised there and are following their academic pursuits here in the states, it was very valuable to know what they think about the current presidential candidates.”

“The conference went very well,” said Sergio de la Calle, a graduate student in public diplomacy from Mexico. “It is very important to bring people from Mexico who are experts on international relations, to talk about the complex historical relation between the USA and Mexico. I think the biggest problem between both countries is that they don’t understand each other; they don’t know about each other, and that’s a politician’s profit out of this misunderstanding.”