Forum
By Robert A. Pastor
Becoming North American
M
ore than 445 million people live in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, but
few think of themselves as residents of North America.
Throughout their histories, the three governments have devoted so much time to defining and
emphasizing their differences that the people have
not noticed what they have in common, or that they
share a continent and values. Public opinion surveys
in all three countries over the last three decades have
demonstrated a convergence of basic values— on
family, government, the economy, and society, and yet
the conventional wisdom suggests that the countries
and their people could not be more different.
62 The three governments, however, have not kept pace
with the process of integration, and have not addressed
the many problems—like labor, development, immigration, security, environment—that have emerged
since 9/11 and with a larger, unregulated market. As
a result, relations have deteriorated, and integration
has stagnated since 2001. In brief, the three leaders
have not led. Worse, they have followed the fears of
the public and begun to talk about protectionism, repealing NAFTA, and building stronger walls rather
than dismantling or finding ways around.
While such a path might feel safer, in fact, it will
harm the United States immeasurably in our neighborhood and beyond. Few people realize but our first
and second largest trading partners are not England
and France, but Canada and Mexico. And our first and
second largest source of energy imports is not Saudi
Arabia or Venezuela, but Canada and Mexico. Canada
and Mexico understand the importance of the United
States, but few Americans realize how important Canada and Mexico are to the United States.
What should we do?
The three countries also share a trade agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), which came into effect on January 1, 1994,
and succeeded in doing what it was designed to do:
lower trade and investment barriers. As a result, trade
among the three countries has tripled, foreign direct
investment has quadrupled, and many firms have become continental in production and marketing. As
the market enlarged, the three economies grew more
integrated and specialized, meaning that some firms
went out of business, and others grew stronger. As
consumers, all the people of North America benefited
from freer trade, but as producers and workers, some
of them did, and some did not.
We need to start with a vision of the continent’s future
and the reasons why each nation should focus on that
vision. The vision should be one of “community” based
on the simple premise that each country benefits from
its neighbors’ success, and each is diminished by their
problems or setbacks. With such a vision, it is clear
that all three countries should invest in closing the income gap between Mexico and its northern neighbors
and building new roads to facilitate trade. Without
such a vision, these proposals are infeasible.
Leaders are needed to help the public develop a
new consciousness of being “North American,” but
education is central. The U.S. government supports
88 Centers on Asia, 66 on Europe and Russia, 36 on
the Middle East, and zero on North America. As a
result, there are only six Centers for North American
Ivan Cholakov/ dreamstime
International Educator N O V + D E C . 08
One of the
most important
challenges is
to restore the
prestige of the
United States
in the world,
but that will not
happen unless
and until we
demonstrate
respect for our
neighbors.
Not Keeping Pace
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International Educator
Robert A. Pastor is professor of
international relations and founding
director of the Center for North
American Studies of American University,
Washington, D.C. He is the author of
Toward a North American Community:
Lessons from the Old World for the New.
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N O V + D E C .0 8
Studies in the United States. For students
and the public to begin to think of themselves as North Americans, we need more
research, courses, scholarships, and academic collaboration.
The presidential campaign has barely noticed this agenda, but a “North American
Community” ought to be high on the new
president’s agenda. One of his most important challenges is to restore the prestige of
the United States in the world, but that will
not happen unless and until we demonstrate
respect for our neighbors. Just as education
is needed to extend our boundaries, appreciate our environment, and become better
people, the time has come for Mexicans,
Canadians, and Americans to be proud of
their nation and also of North America, the
most dynamic region in the world. IE
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