Hard Borders and Boots on the Ground: The Post 9/11 Security Relationship PPAS February 3, 2011 Week 18

Introduction Security as a concept is very self-reflective Security as a collective good Security as a trade-off The Canada/US/Mexican Security relationship Managing the Canada/US Border Canadian Immigration policy in the post-9/11 world

Security as a Concept Security as a concept is very self-reflective as it begins with what we are afraid of (whether as individuals or as societies) and are seeking protection from. – Security policy usually refers to state efforts to keep a country safe from violence perpetrated by outsiders and/or those inside the country who contest the legitimacy of its political system. But what if the main thing the people are afraid of is their own state? – Violence though is not the only thing people seek protection from. Instructive that the US called its first modern welfare state policy (a universal pension for seniors) Social Security. – Meanwhile the Quebecois are said to be seeking linguistic security to ensure the survival of their distinct culture. The self-reflective nature of security can make it a challenging topic for international relations as often what each country is afraid of is something that the other country is doing or feels it must do.

Realism vs Liberal Internationalism When talking about security we often notice a split between two factions. One we can call Realists the other have come to be known as either Liberals or Liberal Internationalists Realists tend to believe security is often a zero-sum game and consequently it is better to play to win. Liberals however tend to believe cooperation can be used to ensure all win. Both of these views are present in varying degrees at various times in the policy-making of all countries. However, some countries have a history of being closer to one side of the ledger than the other.

North American Security Relationships are very much conditioned by the different positions each country has historically held in terms of the balance between realism and liberalism in its policy making.

Canada and the US have a very long history of working together on cross-border security. Although there is a clear political dimension there is also a very strong relationship between the bureaucracies and agencies involved. Consequently there are few misunderstandings Politically speaking Canada’s main concern in its dealings with the US revolve around economic welfare and protection of sovereignty (autonomy) as well as actual security issues.

So what you see is a very stable situation on the ground but above the ground where people can see there is sometimes a bit of political too and fro. Post 9/11 the historic cooperation on defense easily translated into policing and border enforcement This is actually one of the biggest changes, that the security relationship between the two countries is no longer a primarily military one.

Not going to say much about managing the Border This chapter is pretty self explanatory so I will just encourage you to read it carefully

As noted Security is something of a self- reflective concept. Consequently, it should not be a surprise that Americans don’t always feel Canada “gets it” and that they have concerns over some Canadian policies such as around immigration

Canada and the US are both immigrant receiving countries and need to do so Although the US receives more immigration than any other country, Canada is a country more “open” to migration Part of the reason for this is the large undocumented migrant community (est 12 Million or more) in the US and the political issues this raises.

The two countries have pursued different selection criteria with the US choosing to have geography play a bigger role than individual qualification Problem is this what if few high quality candidates want to leave the country? Then the quota gets filled with migrants with lower skill levels One area Canada has somewhat missed out on is foreign students 9/11 has given Canada a chance to catch up

Another major issue that Canada has to deal with is our refugee system which is not only a security challenge but unfair to the claimants themselves Finally something needs to be said about temporary migrants and how they have historically been used which has evolved from agriculture to include most industries.

After the Break Now that we have our Priorities as groups it is time to start dialogue with other groups. Each group should elect someone to go to another group and present their ideas so that at the end of the night each group is aware of what the other three groups are thinking. For next week you will be asked to formulate a response.