Minister for Migrant Affairs Mexico Once upon a time we committed ourselves to putting a man on the moon. What kind of similar commitment should we make now? What's the "moon shot" of the 21st century? The "moon shot" of the 21st century is to reconceive the relationship between national belonging, citizenship, and human and civil rights. We must commit ourselves to finding a way to ensure that the wealthier countries' legitimate desire to maintain their autonomy and nationhood does not punish the foreign workers who drive their economies. Without immigrants, for example, the US economy would grind to a halt. Yet the hard work of these good people does not earn them even the most basic rights. Under the hot sun they build our roads, but they cannot obtain driver licenses. They cook the food in our universities and deliver the books to our bookstores, but their foreign-born children have no access to higher education. By night they mop the floors of our hospitals and by day they bathe our elderly, but when their own health fails them they have nowhere to turn. They look after our babies but cannot receive prenatal care themselves. European countries have pioneered a reconsideration of the citizenship idea by extending rights to workers who migrate within the EU, but Africans and others who land on the continent's shores still live in the shadows. The millions of people in both hemispheres who migrate to find a better life have made possible the rapid economic progress of recent years. For them, we must find a better way. As the world heads down its current path, what should we fear most? As a globalizing world brings us closer to those different from us, we must fear our own potential to react by isolating ourselves. Our greatest fear is not that nations lose their sovereignty and unique identities, but that they hide within them. In place of learning to trust our neighbors, we may blame social and economic problems on the people among us who are different. We may treat these people with suspicion, disrespect, or outright discrimination. Our greatest fear should be our own potential to be suspicious and mistrusting of one another--and to hurt one another in the process. What issue or issues will most define our future? A globalized world creates globalized challenges: global warming, the spread of AIDS, poor distribution of resources. But while social problems know no borders, the efforts to solve them do, as governments still work independently to benefit their own people first. In the long run, this strategy will not work. The issue that most will define our future will be the process--uneasy at times, exhilarating at others--by which countries will learn to collaborate across borders in meeting the challenges of the 21st century.