Suspenders and a belt: Perimeter and border security in Canada‐us relations

Abstract

In the spring of 2005, Canada, the United States, and Mexico negotiated a Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), an agreement meant to bolster continental security while preserving a free flow of goods and people across national borders. After the SPP was announced, influential groups in all three countries argued that the new agreement should lead to the erection of a continental security perimeter. This paper argues that proponents of a continental perimeter overlook the mutual self‐interest Canada and the United States see in focusing security cooperation on the border in a bilateral cooperative, rather than continentally integrative, measures. Although their motives differ, both countries recognize that the protections offered by borders (belts) take precedence over those provided by a perimeter (suspenders).