
	The United States of America and Mexico are an example of two nations which at one time were beset by an enduring rivalry which spanned 57 years, from 1836 to 1893. (Diehl and Goerts 2000 p. 145).  The high-water mark of this rivalry was the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, where the United States attacked and defeated Mexico and secured for itself Texas and the American Southwest as new territory.  Many other clashes happened between the two nations, finally abating just before the First World War.   The rivalry began as Americans and Mexicans clashed on key issues such as religion, culture and tradition and had a major clash of material interests (Schmitt 1974 p. 30-31).   
	This is not unlike many other nations who have an enduring rivalry with a neighbor.  Nations which share a border tend to have clashes of interests which lend to the creation of rival positions between the nations.  The United States and Mexico are not unlike many other enduring rivalries between nations which share a common border.  David M. Pletcher (1977) states that “Only in Mexico and Cuba can one find long-lasting overarching American diplomatic problems” (p. 41).  Indeed, both of these nations are geographically close to the United States and have been rivals to the United States, while other nations in Latin America enjoy and have enjoyed good relations with the United States.   
	Religious issues created a rift between the two nations, a problem which has beset many nations through history.  Sally Frahm (2001) states that ”if in the twentieth century Americans were opposed to fascism and communism, in the eighteenth and nineteenth they were opposed to Catholicism and monarchy”  (p.86).  Not unlike the Cold War’s rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union was part ideological struggle and part a competition over interests each nation deemed vital. In this case, however, the ideological struggles weren’t based on the political structure but on instead the religious preferences of the United States and Mexico.  This distrust grew from the distrust between the English and Spanish.  Inheriting these feelings of distrust from their former colonial rulers was a major obstacle in the establishment of amiable foreign relations between the United States and Mexico.
	Diehl and Goerts (2000) list 17 disputes between Mexico and the United States in the 57-year rivalry period.   The majority of disputes between the rivalry period described by Diehl and Goerts are territorial issues relating to border raids from Mexican territory into Mexico and other frontier problems.  Border raids by bandits and outlaws from on American border towns were a major problem which remained until both the United States and Mexico exerted military force on their borders (Schmitt 1974 p. 97).  
Schmitt (1974) explains the rivalry between the two nation began to abate as “Mexico became clearly dependent on the United States in a substantial way” (p. 109) and finally ended as American ambitions “changed from territorial expansion to economic intervention into Mexico” (p.110) in the later part of the 19th Century. 
