BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The director of research for the Bespoke Group says that as the world becomes less unipolar, the United States is going to have to work much more closely with Mexico.

Jacob, L. Shapiro holds a master’s degree with distinction from Oxford University and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University. He was guest speaker via a video link at an international relations forum hosted by the Mexican Consulate’s Office in Brownsville.

Held at the eBridge Center for Business & Commercialization, the forum was titled, “Brainstorming Dialogue: Navigating the New Era of US-Mexico Trade in the RGV Border.”

“If we think about the US-Mexico relationship from just a very apolitical, cold-hearted geopolitical perspective, this is a relationship in which both sides need each other. The United States very much needs Mexico, and Mexico needs the United States,” Shapiro said.

“And I think the thing that has changed, really, in the last five to ten years, in which will continue to change, I think, in Mexico's favor, is that… for much of the last century plus the United States has had most, if not all, of the leverage. And Mexico has not had the leverage.”

Shapiro says he always references a quote attributed to former Mexico President Porfirio Diaz: "Poor Mexico - So Far from God, So Close to the United States."

Shapiro predicts Mexico’s leverage with the United States will only increase.

“As the world becomes less unipolar, where the US is not the dominant power in the world, where the US cannot simply say what it wants to happen and have those things happen, it's going to need a greater emphasis on local and regional supply chains, on local alliances and on local trade normalization.”

Dr. Judith Arrieta Mungia Mexico’s consul in Brownsville, moderated the forum. At the conclusion of Shapiro’s remarks, Arrieta applauded enthusiastically.

Here is an audio recording of Shapiro’s remarks in full.

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