North America 2.0: Forging a Continental Future

North America has survived a tumultuous three decades since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. What characterizes our shared region today? What sort of region can advance our shared interests and well-being over the next generation? This volume from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs offers an agenda for how the region’s leaders can forge inclusive and effective strategies that ensure North America’s next decades build upon past successes—while addressing serious shortcomings.

Selected Reviews

"The idea of North American cooperation has been buffeted in recent years by the COVID-19 pandemic, the populist and xenophobic policies of the Trump administration, and a rising China. North America still survives, however, with the entry into force of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The contributors to North America 2.0: Forging a Continental Future provide a clear-eyed assessment of many aspects of the region’s future, from border control and security, to migration, to energy and the environment, and beyond. The volume provides crucial insights into the prospects and limitations of the North American relationship as we enter into a challenging future together." - Laura Macdonald, Professor, Department of Political Science and Institute of Political Economy, Carleton University

"As the world continues to reshape, changing our understanding of issues such as economics, trade, security and competitiveness, North America currently faces challenges that will define the future of several generations. North America 2.0: Forging a Continental Future describes what those challenges are, and what we must do to resolve them. It is fundamental reading for scholars, public officials and the business community." - Juan Carlos Baker, CEO and founding partner, Ansley International Consultants

"Change is accelerating in today’s world: in geopolitics, economics, education, health, migration, climate change, and crime. Alan Bersin, an experienced policymaker, and Tom Long, a top-notch scholar, have assembled key experts to analyze what these challenges and opportunities mean for North America’s three major nations—the United States, Mexico, and Canada—and for their relations with their closest neighbors in Central America, the Caribbean, and the northern tier of South America. This volume combines vision and constructive pragmatism, sharply focused on questions that need more and better attention." - Abraham F. Lowenthal, Public Policy Scholar

Chapters by Belfer Center Authors:

"Emergency Management in North America" by Juliette Kayyem, Daniel Jean, and Luis Felipe Puente Espinosa

This Article is Featured in the 2022 Fall newsletter »