Teaching Canada–US relations: Three great debates

Abstract

The study of Canada–United States relations has a long, rich history as an interdisciplinary project, closely engaged with contemporary policy debates, and well integrated in the teaching curricula at Canadian universities. As the two societies become ever more tightly enmeshed—economically, demographically, culturally, and even politically—and the two states’ diplomatic relationship becomes ever more complex, the study of that relationship can and should become more reflective, purposive, and coherent. Having reviewed recent historiographical developments, in which the field’s three core debates have been taken in important new directions, we are hopeful about the prospects for renewal and reinvention. The challenge for students of Canada–US relations today, we maintain, is therefore to continue to unearth insights from the original great debates but also to challenge and revise the broader debates themselves to develop a more robust understanding of the relationship past, present, and future.