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Abubakar Bobboi Jauro, an official from Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, and Dr. Robert Pastor, CNAS director, at a polling place during the Mexican presidential election on July 2, 2006. They were invited as observers by the Federal Electoral Institute, Mexico’s national election commission. (Photo courtesy Robert Pastor) |
International Affairs
AU’s Center for North American Studies (CNAS) Engaged in Wide-Ranging Efforts to Boost “Continental Thinking”
THE THREE COUNTRIES OF North America—the United States, Canada, and Mexico—constitute the world’s largest free trade area, and their economies have become increasingly integrated. President George W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Mexican President Vicente Fox met in Cancun, Mexico in March 2006 and reaffirmed their determination to strengthen ties, and yet the three governments have made very little progress, and there remains little awareness of the idea of “North America” or the continent’s potential. Seeking to change the way people in all three countries view North America, CNAS encourages “continental thinking” on AU’s campus and beyond by developing a new curriculum; recruiting distinguished senior fellows; sponsoring research, including a unique journal; and maintaining unparalleled outreach efforts. (See http://www.american.edu/ia/cnas.)
AU’s curriculum now offers more courses on North America than any other university in all three countries. In June 2006, CNAS held its fifth summer institute at AU for U.S., Canadian, and Mexican students. (See page 8.) Through the Center’s efforts, AU now has an undergraduate minor and graduate certificate in North American Studies. (See the Celestine Johnson and Marlon Brown stories.) With the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), this past spring CNAS launched Norteamérica, the first peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to North American topics ranging from energy and security to elections and immigration.
Since 2003, CNAS has recruited 10 visiting senior fellows, including a former prime minister of Canada. For the 2006–07 academic year, CNAS is pleased to welcome Dr. Donald Avery from the University of Western Ontario, who will hold the first Fulbright visiting chair in North American Studies; Dr. Raúl Benítez, from UNAM; and Daniel Hernández, who will also be AU’s second Mexican diplomat in residence. (See page 6.)
CNAS has also continued to help shape public policy toward North America. Building on the leadership role it played in the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on The Future of North America, which issued a major report in May 2005, CNAS also played an important part leading to the March 2006 Cancun Summit. CNAS Director Dr. Robert Pastor wrote the cover story for Newsweek International’s March 27 issue. In April, he testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations about North America’s second decade. In June, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced a bill to establish a North American Investment Fund, an idea developed by CNAS. Dr. Pastor is also a member of the North American Forum, a group comprised of 75 leaders from the three countries and co-chaired by George Shultz, former U.S. secretary of state; Peter Lougheed, former premier of Alberta, Canada; and Pedro Aspe, former finance minister of Mexico.
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The Center’s latest research project is on “Regulatory Convergence” and funded in part by the U.N.’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. CNAS has also provided small grants to several AU faculty members for research on North American topics.
CNAS welcomes as associate director Dr. James McHugh, political science professor and coordinator of the North American Studies Program at Roosevelt University in Chicago. An expert on U.S.-Canadian relations, Dr. McHugh will serve as managing editor for Norteamérica and lead research projects and faculty seminars. “AU is well-positioned to define the entire field of North American Studies, and I’m delighted to work with the faculty to accomplish that goal,” said Dr. McHugh. “We are fortunate to have found a person of Dr. McHugh’s experience to help AU blaze a new path in the region,” commented Dr. Pastor.
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