National Images and United States-Canada Relations

This book explores the psychological–cultural dimension of the United States–Canada relationship by analyzing how each country has viewed the other. Drawing on a wide range of data, including primary sources, secondary literature, and survey research, the methodology is historical/analytical, seeking to explicate and understand how Americans and Canadians, and their elites, have viewed one another from the moment they were launched on separate trajectories, why they developed and held such ideas, and what consequences these images had for the bilateral relationship between the countries. American and Canadian images of the other have deep roots and are, in many respects, recognizably the same today as they were many decades ago. Moreover, even when anchored to important realities of the other, such images influence the perception and interpretation of events, and actions taken by the other. How Americans and Canadians have viewed each other, the sources of these ideas, the way they have been influenced by each country’s domestic politics and place within the international system, and the consequences for their bilateral relationship are among the questions examined. Interdisciplinary in approach, the book will appeal to scholars and students of political science, international relations, and history.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Images of the Other and International Relations Introduction: Imagining the Other When and How Do Images of the Other Matter? Borderlands: Does Physical Contiguity Make a Difference? National Images and United States-Canada Relations Chapter 2 America: A Canadian Obsession Introduction Early Perceptions: Anti-American Elites and an Unconvinced Public The Rebellions of 1837-1838: Rejection of the American Model? Fears of Annexation Canadian Ambivalence toward America The “New” Canadian Nationalism Multiculturalism as a Marker of Difference (and Superiority!) Old Cultural Tropes Die Hard American Decline, the Rise of Trumpism, and Canadians’ Image of America Conclusion Chapter 3 Canada: From Existential Threat to the Unknown Country Introduction The Threat from the North The Early American Image of les Canadiens and the Canadian People Canada as a Refuge from Injustice Reciprocity and Annexation The Friendly Neighbor Next Door The Popular Image of Canada: Public Opinion and the Media Canada in America’s Culture Wars Conclusion Chapter 4 A Story of Asymmetry: The Policy Consequences of National Images Introduction Economics Security and Defense Communications and Culture The One-Way Mirror The Modern Era in United States-Canada Relations Cultural Nationalism in Canada Economic Nationalism in Canada United States-Canada Free Trade, 1989 The Decision to Go to War in Iraq, 2003 National Images Matter… within Limits References Index