Canada-U.S. Relations: The Rules of the Game

CANADA-U.S. RELATIONS:. THE RULES OF THE GAME Allan E. Gotlieb J. here is a widely shared impression that things have changed in the relationship between Canada and the United States. Changes within each country have added to differences which already existed between them. Issues on which we differ may be more numerous now, and some of these may be fundamental in a narrow way, but this is, after all, more or less par for the course for a relationship that is the most complex and richest of any bilateral relationship in world affairs. The point is that we should not be embarrassed by this, or anxious, or alarmed. We are, after all, different countries. What we should do is make sure that the rules of the game for managing the relationship have kept up with the changes that have taken place. The starting point of our assessment should be the recognition of what we have in common. Two pluralistic, immigrant societies which have a common and immutable commitment to democratic methods and a shared notion of human rights; economies based on the dominant creative role of the private sector; and a generally shared cultural milieu and idiom. Traditionally , the United States and Canada share roughly similar world views: We are on the same side of events on the large questions of international peace and security, basically because of our concern for democratic and other political values. We also share the consciousness of a friendly and intensive relationship, built up over the years, with its great complex of economic and human interchange, its dependencies, and its heavy responsibility for the cooperative management of the shared frontier, a concept that now goes beyond the land to include the air and the wind and the ocean's resources, and their impact on our lives. Allan E. Gotlieb is the Canadian Ambassador to the United States. The text of this article originated in the form of remarks made by Ambassador Gotlieb in April 1982 as a speaker in the annual Christian A. Herter Lecture Series at SAIS. 177 178 SAIS REVIEW So where are the differences? There are the traditional differences, and the newer, emerging ones. Traditionally, the most obvious differences are those ofrespective size, power, and responsibility in world affairs. The United States is a superpower with a global foreign policy based both on overall global responsibilities and on specific national interests in almost every corner of the globe. Canada is a regional power without a region. So said Dean Acheson. Providence made arrangements whereby the United States is Canada 's region. So Canada inevitably reaches outward with a global foreign policy. It had no other choice. This explains, in part, Canada's strong commitment to multilateralism, Atlanticism, the Pacific Community as well, and bilateral ties that correspond to our historic and linguistic ties, and our need to develop links in this hemisphere. It explains our active role in designing the architecture of the United Nations, nato, the modern Commonwealth, and fa Francophonie. Canada is a large power; to call us a "middle power" is inaccurate. But most of our interests in promoting thejudicious resolution of global issues— peace, security, a morejust world order, a stable and open trading environment —are shared with our allies and other countries. True, we have specific trade and investment interests and important bilateral relationships in every part of the globe, which we are trying to advance as a matter of national interest. But basically, in geopolitical terms, Canada's international interests are shared. Canadian approaches have fewer roots in specific national objectives in terms of defense, ideology, or—and this is the telling distinction— responsibility. Perhaps that is the best way to define a superpower and its role—global responsibility—something that goes beyond weapons systems and armed might, but bears upon the singular responsibilities of leadership. For example, international turbulence does not always affect specifically Canadian interests to the extent that it does those of the United States. Globally, the United States is conscious of needing to defend its massive international presence. Politically, the United States is engaged in a deeply preoccupying strategic face-off with the U.S.S.R. Canada, of course...