As the US’s most complicated neighbor, Mexico has a lot of factors working for it, and against
it.
With a strong national culture and positive international relations marred by expanding
cartel violence, we wanted to know.
Just how powerful is Mexico?
Well, geographically, Mexico is fairly large.
At roughly 750 thousand square miles, or about a quarter the size of the contiguous United
States, Mexico is the 14th largest country in the world.
Mexico is also home to over 120 million residents, making it the most populous Spanish speaking
country.
Mexico also has one of the world’s top economies, with a GDP of about 1 and a quarter trillion.
Although that’s actually still a few hundred billion dollars smaller than the GDP of Texas.
Mexico’s high yield economy is largely the product of their strong trade ties through
the North American Free Trade Agreement.
In fact, trade with the US and Canada accounts for nearly half of all Mexican imports and
exports.
Additionally, as the world’s top producers of electronics, automobiles, silver, and oil,
Goldman Sachs has predicted that by 2050, Mexico will be the world’s fifth largest
economy.
However, in comparison, Mexico’s military is relatively unimpressive.
Stacked against the world’s armies, Mexico ranks 31st, about on par with South Africa.
This is partially due to the fact that Mexico has historically only spent about half a percent
of their GDP on their armed forces.
By comparison, the US spends closer to four percent.
And although Mexico isn’t really in a position to be invaded, their military and police forces
have been overwhelmed by the country’s hyper-violent drug war, during which over 60,000 have died,
and another 20,000 have gone missing.
On top of their drug problem, Mexico also suffers from relatively high infant mortality,
and a comparatively low literacy rate.
Sources have pointed to the fact that roughly half of Mexico’s population lives below
the poverty line, a statistic that’s been unchanged for the past thirty years, despite
significant economic growth.
Overall, Mexico is an important manufacturing ally with a rich history and strong economy.
However, a more realistic view of the country would paint it as an impoverished war-zone
heavily reliant on it’s very powerful neighbors.
So how powerful is Mexico?
The truth might lie somewhere in the middle.
If you want to check out our full “How Powerful” series, you can find it right here.
Or if you want to learn about how legalizing weed in the US would affect the drug cartels
in Mexico, check out the video below.
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