Discusses the threats to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) emanating from Mexico. Combining the fields of international political economy, international relations theory, and critical theory studies, the authors maintain that Mexico has entered a crisis of authority whereby a decaying hegemonic structure has collapsed with nothing to replace it. The chapters discuss the imposition of the neoliberal program; growing social inequity; the responses to neoliberalism by native groups in Chiapas such as the Zapatistas; the rise of narcotrafficking; the relation of human rights and national security; the role of the Mexican armed forces; and how the foregoing relate to class, gender, race, and other variables. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.