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decade of the 21st century. Although each makes reference to Doran, his framework, and his insights about the relationship, the chapters in this volume are also stand-alone pieces by prominent experts in the field examining dimensions of contemporary Canada-U.S. relations that do not require detailed knowledge of Forgotten Partnership itself. Moreover, the contributions to this volume are full treatments of issues that Doran was able to address only in passing or that, in several cases, were unforeseen in the early 1980s.
An International Frame of Reference
Scholarly analyses of bilateral relationships anywhere in the world often become somewhat myopic in their outlook. Every twist and turn takes on exaggerated significance, and every dispute becomes a new litmus test for the health of the relationship. As the pieces in this volume make clear, the Canada-U.S. relationship is vast, dynamic, and significant. But avoiding the descent into myopia is a consistent challenge. Popular, journalistic, and even some scholarly treatments of Canada-U.S. relations have regularly been victims of such distorted vision. The quintessential example of this phenomenon in Canada-U.S. relations is the long-running softwood lumber dispute. It would not be a stretch to suggest that an overwhelming majority of Canadians have heard of this dispute; even if they cannot name specific litigants to the dispute or the issues at play, many have strong opinions about it. Egged on by a Canadian press corps that routinely makes the dispute front-page news, Canadians have come to see the ebb and flow of this dispute as a barometer of Canada’s relationship with America.
Many versions of Canadian folklore surrounding this dispute read like the classic Melian debate from Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian Wars, with Canada playing the role of the Melians, who valiantly try to reason their way out of certain destruction at the hands of the more powerful Athenians: “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must” (book V, chapter XVII, para. 89). More recent versions of the dispute include allegations that the United States manipulates or