Negotiating with the United States

Canada is unavoidably preoccupied by its relationship with the United States. The disparate sizes of the two countries, the range and extent of the ties, and the lack of any other contiguous neighbour makes this inevitable. These conditions, it is frequently claimed, have caused Canada special problems in negotiating with the United States. This paper contests the conventional presumption, but points to the growing problem of dealing with Congress. Since the start of the Second World War and the co-operation which that event produced, Canada has found in the United States a generous and understanding negotiating partner. Of course, bargaining is intrinsically a contest; a nation's aim in a negotiation is to protect and advance its national interest. What counts is whether a country plays by the rules. The United States has, in the postwar years, only once exploited its power to try to force compliance on a resistant Canadian government. After one blatant attempt to do so, in 1971, it drew back. By and large, in my judgment, the United States government has made a deliberate effort to accommodate Canadian concerns. Generosity was the characteristic quality of the United States approach to the whole world in the postwar years. However, the situation has been changing, and the United States alarmed by the relative decline in its political, military, and economic strength is now pursuing its own national interest with a new determination

Negotiation · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · Canadian Policy and Governance · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Law

• Unbridled Constraint

  Open Access•David G Haglund•Canadian Journal of Political…•1987

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