Asymmetric Interdependence

It is commonly accepted that North America is a lopsided global region, where a global hegemon imposes its will over two weaker neighbours that depend on its every whim and action. However, this vision misses the crucial contribution that Mexico and Canada have historically made, and still make, to the expansion and current prosperity of the United States. Measured in terms of territorial outreach, natural resources, specialized or manual labour, markets, defence, and so forth, the United States would not be what it is now and couldn’t thrive as an ongoing global power without the contribution of its two immediate neighbours. This chapter reviews the historical evidence and the contemporary record to demonstrate that North America is a global region where interdependence, although asymmetric, has been and still is a basic defining issue.