With a full plate ranging from war to recession, a new president might
want to avoid Mexico. Topping the reasons are the minefield of
immigration policy, a raging drug war, and free-trade frictions.

But President Obama can't afford to dodge a foreign-policy challenge
on his southern doorstep. Mexico is the latest and most sweeping test
of the "too big to fail" imperative as White House policymakers try to
steady a shaky world.

Mexico is hardly in the same dire shape as the auto or banking
industries. But it has problems that light up the worry-meter. These
issues can't be solved on one side of the border alone. The situation
requires a steady, unswerving partnership that both countries have not
yet forged.

Mexico, in many ways, is a stand-in for the rest of Latin America.
Booming economies are slowing sharply as oil and mining prices tank.
Remittance money sent home by foreign workers is dropping. Anti-Yankee
emotions, easily stirred by President George W. Bush, have cooled as
the Obama honeymoon sails on.

Starting with Mexico, it's a prime moment to re-engage and start over.
A few days before taking office, Obama had a ceremonial sit-down with
Mexican President Felipe Calderon. The real question is when the two
will meet again and what's on the agenda.

Garnering the most attention is the drug war on Mexico's streets. In
two years, the death toll of security forces, drug cartel members and
civilians has soared past 7,000 - more than the U.S. military toll in
Iraq and Afghanistan. Victims aren't only shot and bombed; they're
beheaded, tortured and sealed in vats of acid. Drug addiction is
rising in Mexico, and local security forces and federal officials are
tainted by the huge bribes offered by drug smugglers.

Calderon is pushing back hard by bringing in new leaders and setting
forth zero-tolerance rules on corruption. But cocaine, heroin,
methamphetamines and marijuana shipments are an unstoppable,
disheartening tide. Tough drug interdiction in the Caribbean and
Colombia has made Mexico the delivery chute for 90 percent of illegal
imports into this country. The American war on drugs is being lost.

Bush took a stab at the problem by agreeing to the three-year, $1.4
billion Merida Initiative, which would deliver modern weaponry,
communications gear and helicopters to the Mexican military, badly
outgunned by drug gangs. The supplies are only trickling into the
fight, a pace that Obama should speed up.

But this aid can't tame the unyielding U.S. craving for drugs that
lies behind Mexico's troubles. The guns used in the killings are
purchased in American border towns, the supplies are paid for with
stacks of $100 bills, and the drug-making chemicals come from the
north. The White House needs a wide-ranging look at the problem and
the best ways to curb the drug flow.

Breaking the grip of the drug cartels may be easier to tackle than a
pair of remaining issues, immigration and free trade. Obama brought up
both of these topics early in his run for office, but dropped them as
the economy took center stage. The two subjects remain divisive and
politically loaded, as jobless rates rise and the economy weakens.

Mexico is a reflecting pool for many of this country's problems. But
for years, Washington's leaders haven't had the inclination to look.
It's time for Obama to focus on the picture and take stock of a
neglected relationship.