Security Communities :: essays research papers

Security Communities and Multilateralism 1.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The United States and Canada have enjoyed a very peaceful relationship over the past 125 years, even though they share a border that is 5,000 miles long and undefended. Shore says that ?neither side regards the other as even a potential military threat, despite the fact that interstate anarchy supposedly makes war an ever-present possibility. Conflicts materialize and are resolved without the expectation that they might lead to violence.? (Shore, 1998, 333) Because of this relationship, Shore says the US and Canada are a perfect example of a pluralistic security community.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The peaceful US-Canada relationship is largely the result of the political learning that has occurred over the past two centuries. While the United States and Canada have had their share of political problems, these problems have not been the type that can create insecurity within the region. As Shore says, the undefended border has prompted both the United States and Canada to see each other in pacific terms, even when there is antagonism and miscommunication. Specifically, the demilitarization both countries have engaged in has helped promote a climate of trust between them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The shared values of the US-Canadian political systems has also guaranteed that a shared US-Canada identity has developed to bind the two countries? interests together, so that they have established transnational relations in terms of shared political economic, and cultural exchange. Shore notes that Canadian and American ways of life have become inextricably linked. As a result, peaceful expectations have reinforced peaceful practices, and vice versa, so that war seems absurd, and an undefended border as well as peace seem normal. Any problems in terms of political behavior have largely involved Canadian nationalism, as Canadian leaders try to get their country to follow a path that isn?t always dependent on the actions of the United States.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There have been problems with the two countries ? economic behavior, because their economies are linked. The North American Free Trade Agreement has closely connected the American and Canadian economies, so that if one falters the other?s economy falters as well. However, there have been few economic woes since NAFTA became law, which indicates that the economic relationship between the two countries is a strong as ever. For the European Union (E.U.) there are numerous problems with their political behavior. The EU is expanding, incorporating Greece and other Eastern European countries, yet European countries are experiencing a backlash of nationalistic fervor against the immigration that the EU permits.