The border between Mexico and the United States of America is one containing particular tension today. Demands to erect a wall that will not work as advertised resonates through a substantial part of the United States in the hopes of halting illegal immigration and illegal drugs from entering the country. Much of the border is rugged land; Geronimo dwelt here, raiding Mexico and less frequently the United States, evading patrols with intimate knowledge of the terrain. Almost 2,000 miles long, it is an expansive tract of land that represents the extensive inter-connectivity of Mexico and the United States throughout their histories.

The relationship between the United States and Mexico is tumultuous, to say the least. The first conflict between these two powers may have technically been the Mexican-American War, but the Texas Revolution was heavily influenced by American settlers that then tried to have the foundling republic absorbed into the United States. Texas was not the only part of Mexico to try and gain independence; several other Mexican states around it attempted to shed central authority from Mexico City. But it was Texas alone that gained independence, and the subsequent admittance to the Union led to the Mexican-American War that sharpened the teeth of the officers that would later play a leading role in the American Civil War.

The end result of the Mexican-American War was a handover of the northern part of Mexico - an expansive stretch of land that includes states such as California, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. There were, and still are, Mexicans who see this transfer of land as a grave injustice that should be righted, but considering that more than 170 years have passed and entire generations of people and legal contracts have been raised under the status quo, it is fair to declare the matter settled. The overwhelming might of the American military further underlines the argument that the matter is settled.

But this is not the only point of contention between the United States and Mexico. Illegal immigration is a trendy issue, but the root cause of the illegal immigration that flows from Central America’s Northern Triangle through Mexico into the United States is inevitably the Drug War. The United States of America has imposed a crusade against the creation and sale of drugs throughout the world that has done nothing to hamper the spread of drug use in the United States, nor stymie the immense profitability of giving people the drugs they desire.

This immensely wasteful doctrine gives great power to cartels and gangs that control the drug trade, and it is entities such as these that fuel the unrest through slaughtering each other and eviscerating government officials that refuse to be bought out that causes the layperson of Latin America to decide that the United States looks welcoming this time of the year.

If you want to have a strong border with Mexico, you want to have a strong Mexico. Concern about Mexico making a play at regaining the Southwest of the United States is laughable; the Mexican government must be enabled as much as possible to fight the entities that are tearing it apart. Essential to this is ending the Drug War; if less drug money goes to cartels, cartels have less power. If cartels have less power, the Mexican government can better exert control over its territory.

The relationship between the United States and Mexico need not be controversial. Together, we can be stronger. The unity of France and Germany in the European Union is a paramount example of this; adversaries for over a thousand years, France and Germany have set aside their enmity to build a brighter, safer future for their people. The United States should be doing everything in its influence to bring stability back to Mexico, and to do so we must recognize that our laws and doctrines have immense influence on the world. End the Drug War, end the havoc.