David and goliath in Canada-U.S. Relations: who’s really who?

The two decades since September 11, 2001 have witnessed a dramatically reoriented landscape in policy domains of critical importance to Canada-U.S., all of which have highlighted the need for greater understanding the dynamics of asymmetrical power. That need has been enhanced by the economic populism of the Trump Administration and its insistence on re-negotiating, possibly withdrawing from, the NAFTA. This paper draws on scholarly insights about power and conflict management to recast the last two decades of Canada-U.S. relations within the dynamics of asymmetrical power. The paper offers a more systematic account of the incidence of asymmetrical power that is hierarchical and undercuts the mythology about “special relationships” and “paradoxes” in Canada-U.S. relations.