Democratic Identity, Political Policing, and the Other side of the US-Canada Security Community

Abstract

Canada and the US maintain one of the closest international partnerships in the world, but there are concerns about its future. Donald Trump's election generated anxieties about the rise of autarkic or authoritarian politics in the region. These worries persist as it remains to be seen whether the Trump administration was a temporary interruption to liberal governance or a signifier of more profound change. Canadian security scholars have contemplated whether an illiberal shift may disrupt the US-Canada security community. This article intervenes in these discussions by emphasizing the extent to which prejudices and political policing have fostered the community's emergence and operation. Archival investigation reveals that illiberal practices have proven reconcilable with a liberal identity throughout the community's development. Therefore, without dismissing existing concerns, we should be vigilant of the possibility that the security community may be internalized within democratic retrenchment, rather than corroded by it.