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Introduction: The Complex Politics of Canadian-American Interdependence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2009

Robert O. Keohane  and
Joseph S. Nye Jr.
Robert O. Keohane
Affiliation:
Member of the Board of Editors of International Organization and is associated with the Institute for Political Studies at Stanford University in Stanford, California.
Joseph S. Nye Jr.
Affiliation:
Member of the Board of Editors of International Organization and is at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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Extract

The United States and Canada have now entered a new and more difficult period in their relations with one another. The “Nixon shock” of August 1971 struck Ottawa as well as Japan; conversely, Canadian reluctance freely to supply energy, particularly oil, to the United States has jarred Americans used to taking access to Canadian resources for granted. The extremely high degree of societal interdependence between the United States and Canada ensures that Canada will be strongly affected by American policies. As the two societies experience rapid socioeconomic change, there are bound to be struggles over how to adjust and who pays the price of adjustment. Government regulations are likely to increase on both sides of the border.

Type
Part I. Introduction
Information
International Organization , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , Autumn 1974 , pp. 595 - 607
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 1974

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References

1 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972). The definitions used here have been slightly changed from those used in the earlier volume. For elaboration, see Keohane, Robert O. and Nye, Joseph S., “Transgovernmental Relations and International Organization,” World Politics (October 1974).Google Scholar

2 Eckstein, Harry, “Case Study and Theory in Political Science,” in Greenstein, Fred and Polsby, Nelson, eds., The Handbook of Political Science (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1974).Google Scholar

3 This is not meant to imply that the political analyst can ignore objective reality. Presumably, political actors who misperceive reality are likely to fail to achieve their goals unless they adjust their perceptions. In the long run, therefore, some congruence can be expected between perceptions and reality. Nevertheless, it is on the basis of perceptions, not on the basis of an objective reality that no one understands in a definitive way, that actions are taken. For a given situation, we begin with perceptions; to predict outcomes, or future perceptions, it may be highly useful to have further information about the reality being perceived.

4 Bachrach, Peter and Baratz, Morton, “Two Faces of Power,” American Political Science Review 56 (December 1962): 947–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5 Galtung, Johan, “A Structural Theory of Imperialism,” Journal of Peace Research (Oslo), 8 (1971).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

6 Young, Oran R., “Interdependencies in World Politics,” International Journal 24. (Autumn 1969): 726–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7 “Canada and the United States—Principles for Partnership,” Department of State Bulletin 53 (July-September 1965): 193–208.

8 For further discuission, see Keohane and Nye cited in note 1 above.

9 Russell, Robert W., “Transgovernmental Interactions in the International Monetary System,” International Organization 27 (Autumn 1973): 431–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

10 Personal interview, Ottawa, February 1972.

11 The International Joint Commission (IJC) is an interesting exception to this rule because it has developed a tradition of rarely dividing by nationality, a tradition well suited to the transnational pattern of cleavages on many boundary water issues. Thus Canada frequently requests that issues be referred to the IJC, but the US is sometimes unwilling to have issues handled by an institution. with a tradition that diminishes US power advantages.

12 US Congress, Senate, Committee, on Finance, United States-Canadian Automobile Agreement, Hearings Before the Committee on Finance on H.R. 9042, 89th Cong., 1st sess., 1965, p. 155.