In this seminar, Paul Ashby of the University of Kent will discuss the process through which the United States has sought in recent years to extend its security perimeter to NAFTA’s borders. This effort is most visible in Mexico, where US security concerns are more pressing than to its north. Dr Ashby will argue that the Mérida Initiative, ostensibly a counternarcotics assistance program, is actually crucial to more expansive regional aims. These are based around the reaction to the events of 9/11, general continuities in U.S. foreign policy to secure strategic interests abroad, and more specific security imperatives created by bilateral and North American economic integration.