The United States of America and Canada have been related for over two centuries now. They both have a common political system and structure, which they inherited from their former colonial master, Britain. The two countries have enjoyed a warm bilateral relationship, especially in trading activities, in spite of the concerns that Canada has over the possibility of being overwhelmed by the United States of America. This fear is genuine, bearing in mind that her neighbor is about nine times stronger both in terms of the Gross Domestic Product growth and human resource capability. From this perspective of unequal status, there is increasing fear among Canadian scholars that its culture and independence will be dissipated if this cooperation persists. Indeed, one of the issues which may divide our interests in the next decade is the emerging fears over unequal status.
Nevertheless, both Canada and US will continue expanding their trading volume owing to the fact that they are currently scoring very highly in terms of bilateral trading volume worldwide. Another eminent strength between these two neighbors is the border which has not been under any guard by the military for a long period of time. This is a factor that will still unite our interests due to the mutual benefit derived by both players. However, the threat posed by terrorism in the recent past has led to restrictions being imposed, especially on the border zones. Initially, the passage from Canada to the US did not require the use of travel documents, unlike now when there are “red tape” checks for security purposes.
This may transcend to be the undoing of the two countries within the next ten years and, as a result, act as a divisive factor. On the other hand, the defense sphere between US and Canada will continue to be strong in spite of the unequal status quo because both of them are in need of a peaceful trading bloc to advance their economic output. Although this is a positive attribute of the US-Canada relations, there have been incessant trade conflicts in the recent, albeit the signing of the continental trade pact to resolve the dispute. This is a divisive element in their cooperation, and it is more likely that the trade differences may not be resolved soon. Included as a contentious issue in this bilateral dispute is the fate of oil exports over Canada, especially in posterity.
Moreover, the issue of terrorism has remained to be a thorn in the flesh between the two partners, which has been tagged as unlawful immigration due to relaxed immigration rules. Despite these divisive ends in the US-Canada relations, one binding factor which is expected to last in the foreseeable future is the high esteem the US has over Canada. The long-term warm bilateral relationship remains to be unshaken and coupled with US determination to maintain it, and the next ten years may still see the two cronies up in arms supporting each other.