A community of fate? Nonpolarity and North American security interdependence

Abstract

This article examines the recent evolution of the idea of a North American security perimeter, and its implications for Canadian foreign economic policy in an era characterized by a shifting global distribution of power. The current global order is characterized by a rapidly shifting distribution of power away from the United States and toward not only other states (the BRICs) but also other actors - including networks, multinational corporations, and NGOs. Drawing upon the “new regionalisms” school, we argue that Canada's instinctive approach to the “North American game” - emphasizing the historic Canada-US special bilateral relationship is an insufficient and excessively narrow approach for adapting to the global and regional challenges provoked by the rapid onset of nonpolarity.