National Images and United States-Canada Relations

The 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 the books explores how Americans and Canadians have viewed one another from the moment they were launched on separate trajectories.

Autorentext

Stephen Brooks is a professor at the University of Windsor, Canada. His research focuses on Canadian politics, American politics, and American foreign policy. His publications include As Others See Us: The Causes and Consequences of Foreign Perceptions of America (University of Toronto Press, 2006), American Exceptionalism in the Age of Obama (Routledge, 2013), and Anti-Americanism and the Limits of Public Diplomacy: Winning Hearts and Minds (Routledge, 2016).

Inhalt

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