Fear and the New Frontier

Article by Christopher Sands first appearing in Horizons, v. 3, n. 2 (Ottawa: Policy Research Secretariat, Privy Council Office, September 2000).
Fear and the New Frontier: A U.S. Perspective on the Canadian Border
Christopher Sands The border between Canada and the United States is more than a line ­ for two countries that defined themselves during the 19th century in the process of exploring and settling their frontiers, the border is the new frontier that will shape our understandings of both countries in the 21stcentury.

Underlying the process of continental economic integration ­ underway long before NAFTA or the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement ­ is a dream. That dream is of prosperity, freedom, and warm relations between Canadians and Americans. It is a dream that we have been progressively realizing for some time now, and happily so. But along with this dream is a nagging fear in both countries, reflecting our own national insecurities. Like a couple taking the decision to marry, we are ambivalent about the naked intimacy of the new relationship and, as the old folks say, having some jitters is normal.

The United States, as powerful as it is in the post-Cold War world, worries about its security. Canadians scoff that a country so strong should fear attack by anyone, but in the United States security is a national obsession. We still embrace the myth of rugged individualism, whereby an individual must protect his family and property against all comers. This translates into widespread support for the largest military expenditures in the world at a time of peace (note that both major presidential candidates are now

promising to spend even more on national defense); the largest percentage of the population incarcerated of any OECD country, made possible by a prison construction boom; and robust spending on police even in quiet suburbs that now feature gated communities. And for millions of Americans, the last line of defense is a gun in the bedside table ­ a constitutionally-guaranteed right many ardently embrace.

You can see it in our culture ­ reflected in our novels, films, music and video games. This is not a passing trend, but a deep reflection of the thinking of Americans that has been on display since the colonial era. And now it is being triggered by deepening integration with Canada.

The apprehension of Ahmed Ressam, accused of planning to bomb the Space Needle in Seattle, drew attention to the ease with which the border can be crossed. A similar scare came during the 1997 trial of a group of men convicted of plotting to bomb the New York City subway system, when one of the conspirators ­ who was on a list of suspected terrorists to be denied entry to the United States ­ explained that after being rejected when trying to enter the U.S. directly, he flew to Montreal and then drove to New York in a rented car without difficulty. Congress reacted by calling for tighter restrictions on the Canadian border ­ the controversial Section 110 rule that was recently blocked by a less draconian measure.

The threats from Canada include cybercrime, as demonstrated by the case of a Montreal teenager ­ a.k.a. "Mafiaboy" ­ who was able to shut down the web sites of CNN and

other media outlets with a carefully coordinated attack. Before that, new legislation passed by Congress to stop telemarketing fraud artists from bilking senior citizens of their savings was thwarted when several of the major offenders simply relocated their scams to Canada.

In most of these cases, it is not Canadians that Americans are threatened by, but the perception that Canadians are not securing their part of the integrated economy, and that our relationship is so open that it can be used against us.

While Americans worry about security, Canadians have confronted a different fear as integration has deepened: identity. Integration has an assimilating side effect. The more integrated things become, the more quickly consumers hear about new products or services and demand them locally ­ giving large firms with the ability to meet these wants an advantage. Soon, shopping malls in Calgary and Dallas are indistinguishable. Cable offerings are diverse, but offer similar menus of options in Toronto and Chicago. Email pals in San Diego and St. John's compare notes on the blockbuster movie they both just saw, and the latest Backstreet Boys or Shania Twain album. What does being Canadian mean in this environment?

Many claim that Canadian identity is slipping away in a tide of integration. Americans scoff that a country whose citizens are ubiquitous in both our popular and elite cultures could worry about a lack of culture, but it is fair to say that in Canada cultural identity is

a national obsession. From beer commercials to the earliest Canadian literature, it is a question that animates Canadians like few others.

There is a larger phenomenon at work in both cases. For Canada, globalization wears an American face. With more than 80 percent of its trade going to the United States, many of the good and bad consequences of globalization seem to come to Canada from south of the border. For the United States, to a degree few Americans yet realize, globalization now wears a Canadian face.

Since the end of the Cold War, countries around the world have grappled with the challenges of globalization: governments becoming weaker, markets becoming stronger, and information and capital moving faster. The United States has largely lived in denial of globalization's impact. Its government has been so strong that the public has not noticed it weakening. Many view globalization as the handmaiden of American hegemony ­ a powerful force that works for our interests, not against them. Suddenly, at the Canadian border, Americans are discovering the challenges of openness. The U.S. government is frustrated that it cannot protect American citizens and their interests in an open, continental economy without Canadian help. It has been a long time since Americans asked another country for help, and really needed it ­ we may have forgotten how to do so, with grace and humility, as our grandparents did.

This is why the Canada-U.S. border at the dawn of the 21st century is a new frontier for both countries. The reality of our separate and equal (and weakened) sovereignties, and

that of our profound mutual interdependence, will be met there. To cope with deep integration, both countries must stop scoffing at the other's fears about the dangers of our national intimacy. Globalization is a phenomenon that neither country can reject, deny or for long resist as it open our citizens to new ideas and benefits they desire.

The first step in meeting these challenges is to acknowledge our fears for what they are. Then we must work to overcome them.

Christopher Sands is a Fellow and Director of the Canada Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. D.C. He was born on the U.S.-Canada border, in Detroit, Michigan and crossed it back and forth many times growing up there. Most recently, he spent the 1999-2000 academic year as a William J. Fulbright visiting fellow at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University. His analyses of Canadian affairs, US-Canada relations and the implications of North American integration are regularly featured on his institute's web site, www.csis.org.