from political, economic, and cultural perspectives, portraying Mexico's struggle to break out of the colonial past and assert its viability as a sovereign state in a competitive world. In this third edition, Hamnett adds new material on Mexico's regional and international roles as they have emerged in the twenty-first century, including membership of supra-national organizations (including and moving beyond NAFTA), the Mexican drug war between government officials and gangs, and the immigration and border crises within the United States. He also discusses Mexico's relationship to the outside world, particularly its efforts to broaden the range of political and commercial associations, especially with European countries, the rest of Latin America, and the Pacific Rim through trade agreements with supra-national organizations.