Canada and the United States: Strengthening the Ties that Bind

Canada and the United States: Strengthening the Ties that Bind 1986/TALKING TRADE: CANADA AMONG NATIONS. Ed. Brian W. Tomlin and Maureen Appel Molot. Toronto: James Lorimer, 1987. xii, 230pp. THE FREE TRADE PAPERS. Ed. Duncan Cameron. Toronto: James Lorimer, 1986. l, 227pp. ARMS CANADA: THE DEADLY BUSINESS OF MILITARY EXPORTS. Ernie Regehr. Toronto: James Lorimer, 1987. xx. 273pp. These three books represent three different levels of analysis of the free trade debate and negotiations. Talking Trade presents a wide perspective on a number of issues affecting Canada's economic and political relationships. Some of them are only indirectly related to trade and the negotiations of 1986. The Free Trade Papers specifically deals with the trade debate, taking documents from both sides. While Amis Canada might appear out of place, it fits in nicely as a case study of an industry in which Canada is already heavily integrated with the U.S. and as such provides some insight into the ramifications of stronger ties with the U.S. Because they deal with different levels of analysis, the three books complement rather than overlap each other. They are therefore reviewed separately with occasional crossreferencing where there is a common interest , although this often turns out to be in areas where contradictions arise. Talking Trade deals with areas which were topical, although not contained , in 1986. For many of them 1986 was a year ofdiscussion or formulation, with the action coming in 1987, as in the case of the trade agreement and the White Paper on Defence. Unfortunately , many of the papers were overtaken by events. The volume has six parts: 146 Canada's International Policies, International Security, International Political Economy, International Development, Canada-U.S. Relations, and the Year in Review. The editors' overview emphasizes the foreign policy review completed in 1986 which called for "constructive internationalism ." Nonetheless, "the working agenda ... was absolutely dominated by relations with the United States" (9). Brian Tomlin and Maureen Molot provide little analysis of the situation, nor do they attempt to lay out the issues of the volume to make the work coherent. In his analysis of foreign policy, von Riekhoff contrasts the Trudeau and Mulroney eras. Trudeau, the rationalist and centralizer, moved power to the Privy Council Office. Mulroney, the neoconservative suspicious of government planning, wanted political control over the bureaucracy and emphasized "crisis defusion" rather than policy development (18). Von Riekhoffargues that foreign policy was affected by the personalities of ministers and by public opinion polls. As for trade negotiations, he suggests that "excessive reliance on President Reagan's personal goodwill appears rather risky, the actual timing of negotiations unfortunate, and the government 's equivocation on the true nature of the sought agreement deplorable" (29). In "Arms Control and East-West Relations," Hampson outlines the various arms discussions underway and leaves an impression of U.S. flexibility, for instance , its willingness to "limit the number of ... air launched cruise missiles ... to 1,500" (34), which was really an escalation from 0 to 1,500. Similarly, the U.S. rejection ofSoviet proposals is only a failure to show "much interest" (35). Hampson notes Reagan's "vision" of the future in which "the threat from bombers and cruise missiles (both air and sea launched) would almost certainly increase " (41). The Soviet proposal to get rid of all strategic nuclear weapons is seen as possibly encouraging war by reducing the danger of U.S.-Soviet conRevue d'etudes canadiennes Vol. 24. No. I (Pri111e111ps 1989 Spring) flicts, but no critique is made of the U.S. escalation of the arms race through Star Wars and cruise missiles. Hampson also discusses several older treaties and negotiations in which the Soviets (37, 38, 44, 45, 48) have shown the most movement toward compromise and suggests that remaining blocks will not be removed until the end of the Reagan presidency (49). Sokolsky presents the military's assumptions about defence: there is a gap between our NATO commitments and our capability, joint security is consistent with sovereignty , security requires an arms build-up, the armed forces should be restored to "war-fighting" potential, Canada has enough resources to defend itselfand participate in NATO (it simply lacks the commitment), and NATO...