Roderic Camp, the Philip M. McKenna Professor of the Pacific Rim, has been asked to brief Anthony Garza, the U.S. Ambassador-designate to Mexico, during Sept. 13th meetings in Washington. As part of the nomination and confirmation cycle, the U.S. State Department has invited experts on different aspects of contemporary Mexico to provide their insights and to answer questions. Senate confirmation hearings follow these briefings.
"It typically proves to be a learning experience for all involved," said Camp, who has briefed two of the past three U.S. Ambassadors to Mexico and met President Vicente Fox during the Mexican leader's first visit to the Bush White House last fall.
Camp's recent research into U.S.-Mexico relations, supported by two Hewlett Foundation grants, plumbs Latin American conceptualizations of democracy in an extensive comparative study.
His newest book, Mexico's Mandarins: Crafting a Power Elite for the Twenty-First Century (University of California Press, 2002) is a detailed evaluation of Mexico's power elite their political power, societal influence, and the role played by mentoring in their rise to the top.