Contrasting events from the previous century when Mexico entered the final stage of the millennium in the midst of a profound civil war and years of historical setbacks, on this occasion it enters the 21st century with the dilemmas, impulses and agenda typical of current times.

 

In the passage of eras which humanity is undergoing, Mexico is not the exception. The country shows unequivocal signs of boasting the building blocks, the social relations and the cultural referents of a new historical period: instead of a centralized republic it is in the process of securing a true and congruent federal state; instead of the authoritarian and discretional state, democracy and the state of law appear to be opening up and reaffirming themselves, both concepts growingly impregnated with a notion of human rights enriched with the values of tolerance and diversity; instead of a limited Welfare State with a protected economy, Mexico is defining a competitive economy integrated into supranational markets and agreements with profound asymmetries and social uncertainties; instead of an inertly nationalist and homogenizing culture, expressions of universal aspiration are revealed, thus re-creating and accepting diversity; instead of long years of uncertainty and social cohesion, not without certain socially assumed doses of accentuated state control, the political arena is being recomposed generating difficulties arriving at agreements which allow the restoration of the social framework, while crime spreads and underground social dynamics with logics of their own settle in: drug trafficking, gangs, kidnapping or organized mafia rings – all predominant in fragile states; finally, instead of a state capable of imposing social rules and projects of public interest or national dimension, the ability of different social segments, regions, and local powers is consolidated to uphold their visions or intentions, even above and beyond the state of law.

 

Moreover, such tendencies are accompanied by the resurgence of accentuated localisms, of pretensions to restore social and cultural referents of yore, and of attempts to re-implant or affirm privileges that had since been considered extinct.

 

In other words, together with the onset of impulses and social aspirations unique to the current century, and as a consequence of the lack of clarity as to how the new national profiles will be in an international context that is also undergoing an accelerated process of reaccomodation, the impulses of restoration, the vocations of authoritarian, imposing and discretional management, and the inclination towards returning to times of univocal and homogeneous visions continue to be present.

 

For that same reason, in the 21st century Mexico is obligated by or is taken by the circumstances to reconfigure new axes of social coexistence, to dialogue and work towards agreements with a diversity of social and regional actors, as well as to train itself, expatiate and facilitate its own integration in the changing international context, determined by the dynamics of globalization, and at the same time it must find the best mechanisms so that the economic, political, and cultural impact of this phenomenon is processed and assumed positively by the nation.

 

In the early years of the 21st century in the face of swift changes, many of which are dramatic, Mexico finds itself facing the challenge of redesigning its historical vocation of being a hinge and link between the north and the south, between the east and the west.

 

In a world confronted by light and darkness, in the ascent of a new civilizing process, Mexico finds itself once again in a strategic geopolitical position that is strengthened by its rich cultural tradition and its potential to share tradition and modernity, in respect to the diversity to impulse and join the processes of understanding.

The problems which affect contemporary society surpass local limits and national borders. The globalized world implies a profound effort to build spaces of comprehension and tolerance that allow the resolution of contemporary challenges (practical solutions and shared decisions).

 

This complex phenomenon acquires more risky and uncertain tonalities due to the recomposition of the world in progress. Parallel to that which is happening in Mexico, humanity itself shows clear signs of being immersed in mutations of yet unimaginable dimensions; gone is the last breath of the industrial society that headed off the 19th century, to be replaced by automated production, new technologies, the world of outer space, the information and communication society, and the service industry.

 

Societies and regions appear to enter into the final phase of fossil fuels, and at the same time we get a glimpse of new energy sources, while on the horizon awaits the conversion towards other energy sources; the political geography of nations and cultures has little to do with the legacy of the era of industrial modernity and colonialisms, while new world blocks are consolidated, dominions and cultures which appeared to have gone by the wayside reemerge, and lines are drawn for a new world geography with borders as yet inconceivable; old conflicts, such as those of east-west or Christianity and Islam, or the so-called conflict between the pure races against the others, which were once considered non-existent in the future of peoples, appear to newly overtake the stage and be part of the reasoning behind wars, threats or confrontations.

 

In a similar manner, to fill out the sketches of the 21st century, one might add that traditional cultural referents are undergoing an accelerated process of transformation, such that, for example, the relations among couples have nuances and models unthought-of just a half-century ago, the notion of family is enriched with new model, traditional procreation has fallen at the feet of breakthroughs in medicine impacting values and norms; the gender dimension highlights cultural differences, and is the focus of strong tensions in the widening of citizen rights in traditional societies. A new notion of citizenship is under construction and cultural limits are becoming blurred by the onslaught of the revolution in information circulation. Doubtless, the ghosts of xenophobia and nationalisms are agitated before the emergence of new social values complexly permeated with all types of combinations.

 

Stated briefly, in the face of the insistent affirmation of the historical trends of the new millennium and of a new century, the world appears to be determined by uncertainty, fallouts and confrontation.

For this reason, and before evidence that throughout the world confrontation appears to be growing and worsening, the laying out of alternative communication channels and the reinvention of communication within diversity, civilizing dialogue, must be encouraged.