|
|
strategic dimension, many of the chapters throughout this book touch on elements of this complex economic dyad. However, those that have been selected to specifically address the trade-commercial dimension more deeply engage parts of the trade issue (such as banking or industrial policy) that Doran himself only touched upon. Earl Fry begins by looking at broad trends in the contemporary bilateral trade and investment relationship. Louis Belanger presents a provocative analysis of the changing dynamics of power in the context of North American economic integration. Malcolm D. Knight engages in an in-depth comparative analysis of each country’s banking systems cast against the global financial crisis, and Geoffrey Hale considers the U.S. Congress as a major player in the management of bilateral economic relations.
The Psychological-Cultural Dimension (PC)
Of the three dimensions animating partnership, Doran argued that the psychological-cultural dimension had the most utility in explaining the relationship. Yet this is perhaps the least studied and least understood part of Canada-U.S. relations. It most often manifests itself in the stereotypical tendency of Americans to “take Canada for granted” or in Canadians’ smugly poking fun at the “mobocracy” to the south with a mix of envy and ambivalence. Americans often find Canadian complaints irritating and ungrateful; Canadians often find the American presence suffocating. Well-intentioned assertions that Canadians are just like Americans tend to pique Canadian cultural insecurities. In Canadian eyes, such expressions of affinity reduce everything to Americanisms, effectively denying Canadians their own national identity. At the same time, Canadian rejection of American leadership offends not only American pride but also America’s sense of well-being and success. If, after all, American values are universal, why have Canadians repeatedly rejected American leadership?
The chapters that address this complex set of issues do so by first setting out the historical linkages that have underwritten partnership, as well as the psychological and cultural tensions within it. As the United States tends to emphasize broad political and strategic elements,