Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-m8s7h Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T00:08:41.002Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Democracy, Donald Trump and the Canada-US Security Community

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2020

Wilfrid Greaves Open the ORCID record for Wilfrid Greaves [Opens in a new window]
Wilfrid Greaves*
Affiliation:
Wilfrid Greaves, Department of Political Science, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Rd., Victoria, BCV8P5C2
*
*Corresponding author. Email: wgreaves@uvic.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article examines Canada-US relations through their shared membership in a pluralistic security community (PSC). While the bilateral relationship has been turbulent for decades, the Trump presidency has damaged the Canada-US PSC by (1) exacerbating a decades-long trend of weakened shared identity and mutual trust between Canadians and Americans, and (2) undermining the democratic norms and institutions that uphold American domestic stability and Canadians’ expectations of peaceful change. Assessing the combined implications of the decline in shared identity, mutual trust and democratic stability, I argue that the Canada-US PSC cannot endure if the United States does not also consider Canada's national and security interests or if the United States itself poses a threat to those interests. Given current trends, the future absence of war in North America may reflect American domination over a weaker and dependent Canada rather than their continued membership in a bilateral PSC.

Résumé

Résumé

Cet article examine les relations canado-américaines à travers leur appartenance à une communauté pluraliste de la securité (CPS). Alors que les relations bilatérales ont été mouvementées pendant des décennies, la présidence Trump a porté préjudice à la CPS Canada-États-Unis 1) en exacerbant une tendance à l'affaiblissement de l'identité commune et de la confiance mutuelle entre Canadiens et Américains qui dure depuis des décennies, et 2) en sapant les normes et institutions démocratiques qui soutiennent la stabilité intérieure américaine et les attentes des Canadiens en matière de changement pacifique. En évaluant les implications combinées du déclin de l'identité partagée, de la confiance mutuelle et de la stabilité démocratique, je soutiens que la CPS canado-américaine ne peut pas durer si les États-Unis ne tiennent pas compte également de la sécurité nationale et de la sécurité du Canada ou si les États-Unis eux-mêmes constituent une menace pour ces intérêts. Compte tenu des tendances actuelles, l'absence future de guerre en Amérique du Nord pourrait refléter la domination américaine sur un Canada plus faible et plus dépendant plutôt que le maintien de leur appartenance à une CPS bilatérale.

Keywords

CanadademocracyNorth Americasecurity communityUnited StatesCanadadémocratieAmérique du Nordcommunauté de la sécuritéÉtats-Unis
Type
Research Article/Étude originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 53 , Issue 4 , December 2020 , pp. 800 - 820
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramowitz, Mike. 2019. “The Struggle Comes Home: Attacks on Democracy in the United States.” In Freedom in the World 2019: Democracy in Retreat. Washington, DC: Freedom House. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2019/democracy-in-retreat.Google Scholar
Adams, Michael. 2003. Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada, and the Myth of Converging Values. Toronto: Penguin.Google Scholar
Adams, Michael. 2017. Could It Happen Here? Canada in the Age of Trump and Brexit. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Adler, Emanuel and Barnett, Michael. 1998. “A Framework for the Study of Security Communities.” In Security Communities, ed. Adler, Emanuel and Barnett, Michael. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, Bruce and Coletto, David. 2016. “Shock and Dismay: Canadians on Trump's Victory.” Abacus Data, November 15. https://abacusdata.ca/shock-and-dismay-canadians-on-trumps-victory/.Google Scholar
Anderson, Bruce and Coletto, David. 2017. “Trump and Canadians: It's Not Going Well.” Abacus Data, June 10. https://abacusdata.ca/trump-and-canadians-its-not-going-well/.Google Scholar
Azzi, Stephen and Hillmer, Norman. 2016. “Intolerant Allies: Canada and the George W. Bush Administration, 2001–2005.” Diplomacy and Statecraft 27 (4): 726-45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barry, Donald and Bratt, Duane. 2008. “Defence against Help: Explaining Canada-US Security Relations.” American Review of Canadian Studies 38 (1): 63–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barstow, David, Craig, Susanne and Buettner, Russ. 2018. “Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches from His Father.” New York Times, October 2. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html.Google Scholar
Blow, Charles M. 2019. “Trump's ‘Concentration Camps.’” New York Times, June 23. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/opinion/trump-migrants-camps.html.Google Scholar
Bouie, Jamelle. 2019. “The Republican War on Democracy.” New York Times, April 27. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/27/opinion/sunday/the-republican-war-on-democracy.html.Google Scholar
Bow, Brian and Lennox, Patrick, eds. 2008. An Independent Foreign Policy for Canada? Challenges and Choices for the Future. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowden, John. 2018. “Trudeau: Trump Tariffs ‘Are an Affront’ to Canadian Soldiers Who ‘Fought and Died’ alongside Americans.” The Hill, May 31. https://thehill.com/policy/international/390106-trudeau-trump-tariffs-are-an-affront-to-canadian-soldiers-who-fought-and.Google Scholar
Brewster, Murray. 2020. “Militarizing a Pandemic: Defence Experts Say Idea of Sending US Troops to Border Makes No Sense.” CBC News, March 26. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic-border-1.5511772.Google Scholar
Burstein, Paul. 2003. “The Impact of Public Opinion on Public Policy: A Review and an Agenda.” Political Research Quarterly 56 (1): 29–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buzan, Barry and Wæver, Ole. 2003. Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campion-Smith, Bruce. 2020. “US Backs Down after Canada Slams Proposal for American Troops along the Border.” Toronto Star, March 26. https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2020/03/26/white-house-looking-at-placing-troops-along-canada-us-border-justin-trudeau-says.html.Google Scholar
Carment, David and Sands, Christopher. 2019. Introduction to Canada-US Relations: Sovereignty or Shared Institutions?, ed. Carment, David and Sands, Christopher. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Charron, Andrea and Fergusson, Jim. 2019. NORAD: Beyond Modernization. Winnipeg: Centre for Defence and Security Studies.Google Scholar
Clarkson, Stephen, ed. 1968. An Independent Foreign Policy for Canada? Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.Google Scholar
Cox, Michael. 2005. “Beyond the West: Terrors in Transatlantia.” European Journal of International Relations 11 (2): 203–33.Google Scholar
Cox, Michael. 2006. “Let's Argue about the West: Reply to Vincent Pouliot.” European Journal of International Relations 12 (1): 129–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dale, Daniel. 2019. “Donald Trump Fact Check.” Toronto Star, April 24. http://projects.thestar.com/donald-trump-fact-check/.Google Scholar
Deutsch, Karl W., Burrell, Sidney A., Kahn, Robert A., Lee, Maurice, Lichterman, Martin, Lindgren, Raymond E., Loewenheim, Francis L. and Van Wagenen, Richard W.. 1957. Political Community and the North Atlantic Area. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Dewitt, David and Kirton, John. 1983. Canada as a Principal Power. Toronto: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Ditrych, Ondrej. 2014. “Security Community: A Future for a Troubled Concept?” International Relations 28 (3): 350–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drezner, Daniel W. 2019. “This Time Is Different: Why US Foreign Policy Will Never Recover.” Foreign Affairs, May/June. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2019-04-16/time-different.Google Scholar
Dupeyron, Bruno. 2020. “Why Trump Tried to Use the Coronavirus Crisis to ‘Mexicanize’ the US-Canada Border.” The Conversation, April 2. https://theconversation.com/why-trump-tried-to-use-the-coronavirus-crisis-to-mexicanize-the-u-s-canada-border-135011.Google Scholar
Eagles, Munroe and Nanos, Nik. 2017. “Stronger Together? Support for Political Cooperation in Canada and the United States, 2005–2016.” PS: Political Science and Politics 50 (3): 735–40.Google Scholar
Ekos. 2017. Open versus Ordered: Cultural Expressions of the New Outlook. Ottawa: Ekos Politics. http://www.ekospolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/open_vs_ordered_october_10_2017b.pdf.Google Scholar
Ellington, Thomas C. 2019. “Transparency under Trump: Policy and Prospects.” Public Integrity 21 (2): 127–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ettinger, Aaron. 2018. “Trump's National Security Strategy: ‘America First’ Meets the Establishment.” International Journal 73 (3): 474–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foa, Roberto Stefan and Mounk, Yascha. 2017. “The Signs of Deconsolidation.” Journal of Democracy 28 (4): 5–15.Google Scholar
Freeland, Chrystia. 2018. “Address by Minister Freeland When Receiving Foreign Policy's Diplomat of the Year Award.” Global Affairs Canada, June 13. https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2018/06/address-by-minister-freeland-when-receiving-foreign-policys-diplomat-of-the-year-award.html.Google Scholar
Freeze, Colin. 2017. “Trump's Actions Pose Questions about the Future of Canada-US Intelligence Sharing: Experts.” Globe and Mail, May 16. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-may-rethink-swapping-secrets-with-united-states/article35013268/.Google Scholar
Gawthorpe, Andrew. 2018. “How Republicans Are Turning US States into Labs of Anti-democracy.” The Guardian, December 11. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2018/dec/11/republican-anti-democracy-gerrymandering-voting-rights-state-laws.Google Scholar
Gheciu, Alexandra. 2019. “NATO, Liberal Internationalism, and the Politics of Imagining the Western Security Community.” International Journal 74 (1): 32–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonzalez, Guadeloupe and Haggard, Stephan. 1998. “The United States and Mexico: A Pluralistic Security Community?” In Security Communities, ed. Adler, Emanuel and Barnett, Michael. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gunitsky, Seva. 2016. Aftershocks: Great Powers and Domestic Reforms in the Twentieth Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Haglund, David. 2010. “A Security Community ‘If You Can Keep It’: Societal Security, Demography, and the North American Zone of Peace.” In Canada's Foreign and Security Policy: Soft and Hard Strategies of a Middle Power, ed. Hynek, Nik and Bosold, David. Don Mills: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Harris, Kathleen. 2018. “Trudeau Calls Trump's Child Separation Policy ‘Wrong’ as President Does About-Face.” CBC News, June 20. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-trump-children-separated-1.4713984.Google Scholar
Hataley, Todd and Leuprecht, Christian. 2019. “Canada-US Security Cooperation: Interests, Institutions, Identity and Ideas.” In Canada-US Relations: Sovereignty or Shared Institutions?, ed. Carment, David and Sands, Christopher. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Hawes, Michael. 1984. Principal Power, Middle Power or Satellite? Competing Perspectives in the Study of Canadian Foreign Policy. North York: York Research Programme in Strategic Studies.Google Scholar
Heyman, Bruce and Heyman, Vicki. 2019. The Art of Diplomacy: Strengthening the Canada-US Relationship in Times of Uncertainty. New York: Simon & Schuster. https://news.wttw.com/2019/05/08/former-ambassador-says-us-canada-relationship-trouble.Google Scholar
Hillmer, Norman and Lagassé, Philippe. 2018. “The Age of Trudeau and Trump.” In Justin Trudeau and Canadian Foreign Policy, ed. Hillmer, Norman and Lagassé, Philippe. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Howe, Paul. 2017. “Eroding Norms and Democratic Deconsolidation.” Journal of Democracy 28 (4): 15–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaffe, Greg and Johnson, Jenna. 2019. “In America, Talk Turns to Something Not Spoken of for 150 Years: Civil War.” Washington Post, March 2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-america-talk-turns-to-something-unspoken-for-150-years-civil-war/2019/02/28/b3733af8-3ae4-11e9-a2cd-307b06d0257b_story.html.Google Scholar
Kamarck, Elaine. 2018. “Laying Out the Obstruction of Justice Case against President Trump.” Brookings Institution, August 22. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2018/08/22/laying-out-the-obstruction-of-justice-case-against-president-trump/.Google Scholar
Kessler, Glenn, Rizzo, Salvador and Kelly, Meg. 2020. “President Trump Made 16,241 False or Misleading Claims in His First Three Years.” Washington Post, January 20. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/01/20/president-trump-made-16241-false-or-misleading-claims-his-first-three-years/.Google Scholar
Klippenstein, Ken. 2020. “Exclusive: Inside Trump's Failed Plan to Surveil the Canadian Border.” The Nation, April 10. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/canada-border-covid-security/.Google Scholar
Ladd, Jeremy Martin. 2014. “Contemporary Developments in Canadian Democracy Promotion and the Way Forward.” Canadian Foreign Policy Journal 20 (2): 209–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lagassé, Philippe and Vucetic, Srdjan. 2020. “Coronavirus Shows Why Canada Must Reduce Its Dependence on the US” The Conversation, May 4. https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-shows-why-canada-must-reduce-its-dependence-on-the-u-s-136357.Google Scholar
Lajeunesse, Adam and Huebert, Rob. 2019. “Preparing for the Next Arctic Sovereignty Crisis: The Northwest Passage in the Age of Donald Trump.” International Journal 74 (2): 225–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lao, David. 2020. “Coronavirus: 3M Says Canada Will Continue Receiving N95 Masks following U.S. Deal.” Global News, April 6. https://globalnews.ca/news/6785990/coronavirus-trump-face-masks-3m/.Google Scholar
Lennox, Patrick. 2007. “From Golden Straitjacket to Kevlar Vest: Canada's Transformation to a Security State.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 40 (4): 1017–38.Google Scholar
Levitz, Eric. 2018. “The GOP's 2018 Autopsy: Democracy Is Our Enemy.” New Yorker, December 4. http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/wisconsin-republican-powergrab-gop-2018-autopsy-democracy-is-our-enemy.html.Google Scholar
Luce, Edward. 2020. “Inside Trump's Coronavirus Meltdown.” Financial Times, May 14. https://www.ft.com/content/97dc7de6-940b-11ea-abcd-371e24b679ed.Google Scholar
Malka, Ariel and Lelkes, Yphtach. 2017. “In a New Poll, Half of Republicans Say They Would Support Postponing the 2020 Election If Trump Proposed It.” Washington Post, August 10. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/08/10/in-a-new-poll-half-of-republicans-say-they-would-support-postponing-the-2020-election-if-trump-proposed-it/.Google Scholar
McCord, Mary B. 2019. “Armed Militias Are Taking Trump's Civil War Tweets Seriously.” Lawfare Institute, October 2. https://www.lawfareblog.com/armed-militias-are-taking-trumps-civil-war-tweets-seriously.Google Scholar
McMahon, Tamsin. 2020. “Trudeau Says Canada Wasn't Warned of Soleimani Strike, Says Crash Victims Would Still Be Alive If Not for US-Iran Tensions.” Globe and Mail, January 13. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-trudeau-says-he-received-no-advance-warning-from-us-about-drone/.Google Scholar
Mueller, Robert S. 2019. Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice. https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf.Google Scholar
Nathan, Laurie. 2006. “Domestic Instability and Security Communities.” European Journal of International Relations 12 (2): 275–99.Google Scholar
Nimijean, Richard. 2019. “Where Is the Relationship Going? The View from Canada.” In Canada-US Relations: Sovereignty or Shared Institutions?, ed. Carment, David and Sands, Christopher. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Paquin, Jonathan. 2018. “US Partisan Perceptions of Stephen Harper's Shift in Foreign Policy.” International Journal 73 (2): 282–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, Ben, Steinbrecher, Stephanie and Ronan, Kelsey. 2020. “Lest We Forget the Horrors: A Catalog of Trump's Worst Cruelties, Collusions, Corruptions, and Crimes.” McSweeney's, July 10. https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-complete-listing-so-far-atrocities-1-546 (July 14, 2020).Google Scholar
Petry, François and Mendelsohn, Matthew. 2004. “Public Opinion and Policy Making in Canada 1994–2001.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 37 (3): 505–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pew Research Center. 2019. “Republicans Now Are More Open to the Idea of Expanding Presidential Power.” August 7. https://www.people-press.org/2019/08/07/republicans-now-are-more-open-to-the-idea-of-expanding-presidential-power/.Google Scholar
Pond, Elizabeth. 2004. Friendly Fire: The Near Death Experience of the Transatlantic Alliance. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Pouliot, Vincent. 2006. “The Alive and Well Transatlantic Security Community: A Theoretical Reply to Michael Cox.” European Journal of International Relations 12 (1): 119–27.Google Scholar
Reich, Robert. 2019. “Trump Is Cornered, with Violence on His Mind. We Must Be on Red Alert.” The Guardian, March 16. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2019/mar/16/donald-trump-breitbart-interview-white-supremacy.Google Scholar
Risse, Thomas. 2003. “Beyond Iraq: The Crisis of the Transatlantic Security Community.” Die Friedens-Warte 78 (2/3): 173–93.Google Scholar
Robertson, Colin. 2012. “Stephen Harper's Management of the Canada-US Relationship.” Policy Options, April 1. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/harpers-foreign-policy/stephen-harpers-management-of-the-canada-us-relationship/.Google Scholar
Roussel, Stéphane. 2004. The North American Democratic Peace: Absence of War and Security Institution-Building in Canada-US Relations, 1867–1958. Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Sands, Christopher and Carment, David. 2019. Conclusion to Canada-US Relations: Sovereignty or Shared Institutions?, ed. Carment, David and Sands, Christopher. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Saramo, Samira. 2017. “The Meta-Violence of Trumpism.” European Journal of American Studies 12 (2). https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.12129CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shore, Sean M. 1998. “No Fences Make Good Neighbours: The Development of the Canadian-US Security Community, 1871–1940.” In Security Communities, ed. Adler, Emanuel and Barnett, Michael. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sinha, Maire. 2015. “Canadian Identity, 2013.” Ottawa: Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/89-652-x/89-652-x2015005-eng.pdf?st=bxt2_5OU.Google Scholar
Stein, Janice Gross and Lang, Eugene. 2008. The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar. Toronto: Penguin.Google Scholar
Stieb, Matt. 2019. “Everything We Know about the Inhumane Conditions at Migrant Detention Camps.” New York, July 2. http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/07/the-inhumane-conditions-at-migrant-detention-camps.html.Google Scholar
Thrush, Glenn and Davenport, Coral. 2017. “Donald Trump Budget Slashes Funds for E.P.A. and State Department.” New York Times, March 15. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/us/politics/budget-epa-state-department-cuts.html.Google Scholar
Timmons, Heather. 2018. “By Threatening Canada on Trade, Trump Risks the Greatest Defense Partnership in US history.” Quartz, June 8. https://qz.com/1295186/g7-donald-trumps-tariffs-on-canada-endanger-a-key-us-military-relationship/.Google Scholar
Trump, Donald J. 2019. “Speech: Donald Trump Addresses a National Republican Campaign Committee Fundraiser.” April 2. https://factba.se/transcript/donald-trump-speech-rncc-fundraiser-dinner-april-2-2019.Google Scholar
Tusicisny, Andrej. 2007. “Security Communities and Their Values: Taking Masses Seriously.” International Political Science Review 28 (4): 425–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Väyrynen, Raimo. 2000. “Stable Peace through Security Communities? Steps towards Theory-Building.” Joan B. Kroc Institute Occasional Articles 18 (3): 157–93.Google Scholar
Walt, Stephen M. 2019. “The Tragedy of Trump's Foreign Policy.” Foreign Policy, March 5. https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/05/the-tragedy-of-trumps-foreign-policy/.Google Scholar
Wike, Richard, Poushter, Jacob, Fetterolf, Janell and Schumacher, Shannon. 2020. “Trump Ratings Remain Low around the Globe, While Views of the U.S. Stay Mostly Favorable.” Pew Research Center, January 8. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/01/08/trump-ratings-remain-low-around-globe-while-views-of-u-s-stay-mostly-favorable/.Google Scholar
Wike, Richard, Stokes, Bruce, Poushter, Jacob, Silver, Laura, Fetterolf, Janell and Devlin, Kat. 2018. “America's International Image Continues to Suffer.” Pew Research Center, October 1. https://www.pewglobal.org/2018/10/01/americas-international-image-continues-to-suffer/.Google Scholar
Williams, Michael C. and Neumann, Iver B.. 2000. “From Alliance to Security Community: NATO, Russia, and the Power of Identity.” Millennium: Journal of International Studies 29 (2): 357–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wæver, Ole. 1998. “Insecurity, Security, and Asecurity in the West European Non-War Community.” In Security Communities, ed. Adler, Emanuel and Barnett, Michael. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Yarhi-Milo, Keren. 2018. “After Credibility: American Foreign Policy in the Trump Era.” Foreign Affairs, January/February. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2017-12-12/after-credibility.Google Scholar
Zhao, Christina. 2019. “Donald Trump Jokingly Suggests Serving 5 Terms in White House during Pennsylvania Rally: ‘We'll Drive Them Crazy.’” Newsweek, May 21. https://www.newsweek.com/president-trump-joking-suggests-serving-5-terms-white-house-during-1431204.Google Scholar