Whose Border is it, Anyway?
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200305800315 |
| Published date | 01 September 2003 |
| Date | 01 September 2003 |
| Author | Stephen Handelman |
| Subject Matter | Couchiching Debates “The Big Idea” |
COUCHICHING
DEBATES
"THE
BIG
IDEA"
STEPHEN
HANDELMAN
Whose
border
is
it,
anyway?
Rethinking
North
America's
defences,
from
smart
borders
to
smart
missiles
"We
cannot
accept
unpaid
the
sheltering
protection
ofanother
state."
-Stephen
Leacock,
1909
TWO
YEARS
AFTER
THE
TERROR
ATTACKS
on
the
World
Trade
Center
and
the
Pentagon,
North
America
is
a
profoundly
divided
continent.
Canada,
Mexico
and
the
United
States have achieved
a
level
of
securi-
ty
co-operation
that
would
have
been
unthinkable
a
few years
ago,
but
the lingering
sense
of
vulnerability
in
the
region's
most
powerful
nation
continues
to
influence,
and
in
some
cases
distort,
the
politics
of
the
region.
The
solidarity and
common
vision
that
accompanied
the signing
of
the
1994
North
American
Free
Trade
Agreement
(NAFTA)
have
been
undermined
by
the
opposition
of
America's
north-
ern
and
southern
neighbours
to
its
war
in
Iraq. Moreover,
Washington's
troubled
and
potentially long-term
occupation
of
that
faraway
Middle
Eastern
country
raises
doubts
about
whether
it
can
sustain the
momentum
(or
interest)
for
the
broadened
hemisphere
Stephen
Handelman,
author
and
journalist,
writes
the
biweekly TIME
Canada
column
"49th
Parallel"
and
is
a
frequent
commentator
on
North
American
and
international
affairs.
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Summer
2003
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