Defending North America
January 27, 2017 | James Fergusson
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James Fergusson
Director, Centre for Defence and Security Studies, University of Manitoba
The Canada-U.S. defence relationship is unique in the world of international politics. Its foundation is premised on the shared principle that the defence of North America is indivisible. From this premise, Canada and the U.S. further share the belief that threats to North America should be met overseas. As such, this relationship is largely immune to the vagaries of specific governments on either side of the border. Certainly there have been, and will be, times at which Canadian and American policy diverge, as occurred over Iraq in 2003. Nonetheless, the depth and breadth of the relationship ensures that such divergences have little, if any, lasting effect on the relationship.
There is an expectation that the relationship between the liberal government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the new Trump Administration will be a difficult one, especially on the trade/NAFTA front. This expectation is a function of the negative views of Donald Trump held by most Canadians, historical evidence of difficulties due to the ideological divide between liberal prime ministers and Republican presidents, and sharply contrasting personalities, even though both are populists.
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/article/north-america/defending-north-america-1093?utm_source=Aggregators&utm_campaign=3d0bdedfd7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_01_27&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b02a5f1344-3d0bdedfd7-122460921
