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The Canadian Pursuit of a New International Order
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10359 |
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Current Issues
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12 / 1986 |
3,647 Words |
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Philip C. Bom
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A political San Andreas Fault has developed along the vast undefended border between the United States and Canada. Recently, the media in both countries have borne witness to the increasingly strained relations between the two North American neighbors by headlining and commenting on a number of points of contention, such as lumber disputes and trade negotiations, that have underlined the political and ideological differences between the two nations. In the decades ahead, future Canadian-American political-economic relations will reach a critical level, thanks in part to the Canadian government's continued efforts to stake out its role in developing future world order values.
"Geography made us neighbors. History has made us friends. And economics made us partners," said the late President John F.Kennedy. Political geography, however, can create distance between neighbors.
When two peoples share rivers, lakes, and oceans as well as industry and commerce, a variety of problems, such as disputes over fisheries and forestry, are bound to arise. Disagreements between neighboring nations are often unavoidable, but when confrontational strategy or not-so-quiet diplomacy are employed or the situation is exploited for political objectives, the contributing issues tend to lose perspective and the chances for peaceful resolution of the problem are greatly reduced.
Canadians and Americans both share a common concern over environmental and economic issues. But when these problems, such as the one of acid rain, are politically exploited, unfriendly relations are the likely future result. Such tactics include:
·The Canadian environmental coalition campaign that urges American tourists to "get mad at acid rain."
·"Peace" groups that accuse the United States of turning Canada into a nuclear campground.
·Critics of trade negotiations who accuse the Americans of turning Canada into a colony. The president of the Canadian Labor Congress, Shirley Carr, told delegates to the annual meeting of the Nova Scotia New Democrats: "The United States tries to take over Canada. It has always been, ever since Canada was first formed...they want to disrupt and disturb everything we have and bring us down to their level."
·Disarmament coalition groups, such as Operation Dismantle, that claim the United States is turning Canada into a nuclear testing ground and training camp and advocate Canadian withdrawal from NATO and NORAD. When the Canadian government funds these so-called peace groups, is it any wonder that a rift has developed between the two nations?
Americans' widespread ignorance of Canadian domestic and foreign policy contributes a great deal to the misunderstanding between the two nations. Even Americans who are knowledgeable about Canadian affairs often make the mistake of reading Canada through a filter of their American perceptions. For the most part, American decision makers and academic policy analysts have been slow to pick up on Canada's new internationalism and the mindset of Canadian intellectual and policy elites who have formulated it. The future of American-Canadian relations hinges on how quickly those who formulate policy in the
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