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1511. Creating a North American Community - Chairmen's Statement

Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
When the leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States meet in Texas on March 23, they will be representing countries whose futures are shared as never before.U.S. trade with Mexico and Canada accounts for almost one-third of total U.S. trade. U.S. trade with its North American neighbors substantially exceeds its trade with the European Union, and with Japan and China combined. In the energy sector, Canada and Mexico are now the two largest exporters of oil to the United States. Canada alone supplies the United States with over 95 percent of its imported natural gas and 100 percent of its imported electricity. In 2005, the borders between Canada, Mexico, and the United States will be crossed almost 400 million times.
Topic:
International Relations, Government, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, China, Canada, North America, and Mexico

1512. Security and Sovereignty: Renewing NORAD

Author:
James Fergusson and Dwight Mason
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Security and Sovereignty: Renewing NORAD is the third publication in the Canada Institute's One Issue,Two Voices series. Using expertise from both sides of the Canada–U.S. border, this series is the Institute's contribution to dialogue on policy issues relevant to the bilateral relationship. The focus of this paper is the upcoming NORAD renewal negotiation process.
Topic:
Security, Politics, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States and North America

1513. Threat Perceptions in the United States and Canada

Author:
Frank Graves and Karlyn Bowman
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
In this fourth issue of the Canada Institute's One Issue,Two Voices publication series, authors Karlyn Bowman of the American Enterprise Institute and Frank Graves of EKOS Research Associates explore the public's perceptions of threats and security issues in both the United States and Canada. As with past issues in the series, this publication brings expertise from both sides of the border to address policy-relevant questions of significance to the bilateral relationship.
Topic:
Security, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
North America

1514. Renewing the U.S.-Canada Relationship

Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Relations between the United States and Canada have fallen into a noticeably cyclical pattern over the past half century or so. The American Assembly has been able during these years to turn its attention to the U.S.- Canada relationship precisely when it could do the most good. In 1964, when the first such Assembly gathered, sharp disagreements between Ottawa and Washington, primarily over defense and economic matters, ended the long, post-war “golden” period of amicable ties. In a similar vein, the 1984 Assembly met shortly after U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz had written President Ronald Reagan that something appeared to be “fundamentally wrong” between the United States and Canada.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Government
Political Geography:
North America

1515. Timely Demise for Free Trade Area of the Americas

Author:
Laura Carlsen
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
The stage was set for a showdown. When the Bush cabinet announced intentions to revive the moribund Free Trade Area of the Americas at the Fourth Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, the countries of the Southern Common Market closed ranks to prevent it. What followed was a diplomatic melee that reflects not so much divisions within Latin America, as a growing resistance to the current free trade model throughout the developing world.
Topic:
Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, and North America

1516. Washington Doesn't Get Its Way in the OAS: Latin America's Coming of Age

Author:
Laura Carlsen
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
The May 2 victory of Chilean Interior Minister José Miguel Insulza as secretary general of the Organization of American States ends one phase of a drama that is only beginning. The showdown over the leadership of the OAS began when Costa Rica's former president Miguel Angel Rodríguez resigned in October 2004 due to corruption charges in his home country. Rodríguez was elected by consensus and had served only three weeks of his five–year term when forced to leave.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Government
Political Geography:
America, Washington, South America, Latin America, and North America

1517. The Hidden Cost of Homeland Defense

Author:
Benjamin Friedman
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Conventional wisdom says that none of us are safe from terrorism. The truth is that almost all of us are. The conventional belief is that in response to terrorism, the federal government has spent massive sums on homeland security. The fact is that the increased federal spending on homeland security since September 11 pales in comparison to increases in the U.S. defense budget. But homeland security has costs beyond spending, costs that conventional thinking rarely considers. U.S. homeland security policy conjures up a flawless enemy that could strike at any moment, in any place. That policy institutionalizes the fears terrorists created and harms liberal values.
Topic:
Security, Economics, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States and North America

1518. Why Intelligence Isn't to Blame for 9/11

Author:
Joshua Rovner
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
It did not take long for blame for the September 11 attacks to cascade onto the intelligence community. But it is not deserved, and the reasons for that are important.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
North America

1519. Who Needs the U.N.?

Author:
Gary G. Troeller
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
There has long been a feeling in the corridors of power in Washington that the United Nations is irredeemably flawed and condemned to ineffectiveness. It is viewed as an irritating constraint on U.S. power, or worse—expensive, wasteful, slow to act, and irrelevant.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, Washington, and North America

1520. Raising the Salience of Mexico and Canada

Author:
Chappell Lawson
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Canada and Mexico rarely figure high on the list of American priorities. Policymakers focus on conflicts in the Middle East; specialists in international relations discuss China's growing influence; and newspapers cover the international crisis du jour. It is easy to forget about two countries that appear to pose no direct or immediate threat to U.S. interests.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Politics, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
China, America, Middle East, Canada, North America, and Mexico