Mexican foreign policy · Geopolitics · Diplomacy
Omar Alejandro Loera González, Ph.D.
Scholar of Foreign Policy Analysis and Mexican Foreign Policy
I analyze how Mexico understands and performs its place in the world—and how domestic institutions, international expectations and political narratives shape its foreign policy.
Researcher at CIDE · Lecturer · SNII member · COMEXI Associate
Academic · Consultant · Speaker · COMEXI Associate
About
Understanding Mexico’s place in the world
I am an International Relations scholar specializing in Foreign Policy Analysis, role theory and Mexico’s international behavior. My research asks how states construct and revise their international roles, how domestic actors translate external expectations into policy, and why Mexico alternates between international activism and restraint.
I am a Researcher at the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) and have a 12-year teaching experience at CIDE, Colegio de México, Tec de Monterrey, and the University of Edinburgh. My current research examines foreign-policy change, Mexico’s nuclear diplomacy and the paradox of economic diversification under deep North American integration.
I hold a PhD in International Relations from the University of Edinburgh, where my doctoral research was supervised by Juliet Kaarbo and Mark Aspinwall, and an MSc with Merit in International Relations from the University of Bristol. I earned a BA in International Relations at Tecnológico de Monterrey and I am part of the ICR Research consultancy. I have also worked on public policy within Mexico’s National Anti-Corruption System and collaborated on Inter-American Development Bank projects in Belize and the Dominican Republic.
Featured book
Why does Mexico so often appear to behave unlike a conventional middle power?
Role Theory and Mexico’s Foreign Policy explains this puzzle through role conflict. Drawing on detailed case studies, the book shows how competing domestic and international expectations shape Mexico’s choices and produce the apparent contradictions of its foreign policy.
Winner of the 2023 Modesto Seara Vázquez Award from the Mexican International Studies Association (AMEI).
Research
Research areas
Roles, identity and foreign-policy change
How policymakers and domestic actors interpret, translate and contest international expectations—and how those processes produce change.
Mexico’s place in world politics
The tension between Mexico’s material capabilities, historical diplomatic identity and uneven international activism as a middle power.
Diplomacy in a fragmenting order
Nuclear diplomacy, human-rights policy, Mexico–United States relations and diversification within deep North American integration.
Selected work
Publications and commentary
Review of Understanding Foreign Policy Commentary
International Studies Review, 2026
Why a US Invasion of Mexico Would End in Disaster
LSE USAPP, 2025
Mexico’s Knowledge Diplomacy in Intermestic Affairs with the USA
Forthcoming in Knowledge Diplomacy: Regional Perspectives and Future Trends, Manchester University Press
Recent engagements
Writing, teaching and speaking
Opinion · El Sol de México
Mexico’s dilemma between Washington and Havana
An opinion column on Mexico’s diplomatic choices.
Teaching · Mexican Senate
Diploma in Foreign Policy and Economic Development
I taught in the CIDE diploma program organized by the Senate’s Centro de Capacitación y Formación Permanente. Closing-ceremony materials.
Keynote · Chihuahua
Keynote lecture in Chihuahua
Photographs and materials from my lecture in Chihuahua.
Media and speaking
Research that speaks beyond the university
As a speaker and analyst, I translate academic research into clear arguments for diplomatic, government, media and university audiences. I speak in English and Spanish on Mexican foreign policy, Mexico–United States relations, middle powers, nuclear diplomacy, role theory and transformations in the international order.
My analysis and commentary have appeared in The Economist, El Universal, LSE USAPP and Al Mediodía with Javier Solórzano. I have addressed academic, legislative and diplomatic audiences in Mexico and internationally.
Media & interviews
Selected interviews and public appearances
A curated selection of television interviews, public lectures and policy discussions on Mexican foreign policy and Mexico–United States relations.
September 2026 · AMCOSAD
With members of the Embassy of the USA, United Kingdom, India, Russia, Singapore, The Philippines, Malaysia, Panama, among others.
June 2026 · El Universal
Interview with El Universal
Analysis for one of Mexico’s leading national newspapers.
February 2026 · Al Mediodía
Interview with Javier Solórzano
Foreign-policy commentary for the national newscast Al Mediodía.
January 2026 · Al Mediodía
Interview with Javier Solórzano
A conversation on Mexico and contemporary international affairs.
June 2025 · Mexican Congress
The Paradox of Mexican Sovereignty
Second National Forum on the USMCA at the Crossroads.
April 2025 · UAM
¿Más si osare un extraño enemigo?
Expectations for relations with the United States during the Trump administration.
Book discussion
Role Theory and Mexico’s Foreign Policy
A discussion of the book’s contribution to understanding Mexican foreign policy.
Documents & resources
Selected professional materials
Documents, event materials and presentations from recent academic and public-facing work.
SNII membership recognition
Official professional recognition.
Diploma in Foreign Policy and Economic Development
Closing-ceremony materials.
Keynote lecture in Chihuahua
Event photographs and supporting materials.
México abre un nuevo frente diplomático en la era nuclear-digital
Guest column for El Universal.
Legal Argumentation in the Mexico–United States Relationship
Lecture materials from Universidad Panamericana.
Graduate Seminar in Social Science Research
Seminar materials from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana.
Discussant presentation: Understanding Foreign Policy Commentary
Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Let’s work together
I am available for invited lectures, executive and diplomatic briefings, media interviews, research collaborations and selected consulting projects.
Based in Mexico City and available for in-person and online engagements in English and Spanish.
Secondary contact: oloera@colmex.mx · X: @oloerag