Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Threat Con 2025
cipherbrief

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

Cooperation with Canada

When you ask average Americans about their perceptions of the relationship between the United States and Canada, they will undoubtedly talk about the NHL or the Vancouver Winter Olympics, or Toronto making the MLB playoffs or the Keystone pipeline, or maybe even the recent election of a new government in Ottawa. While all of these are important and are certainly a bedrock of the U.S.-Canadian partnership, these answers miss the very critical security relationship that enables us to enjoy the freedoms of democratic governments, of economic growth, and of showcasing some of the greatest athletes in the world. The reality is that our two nations have been bound together for decades—economically, militarily, socially, and politically. As the first-born U.S. citizen of significant Canadian heritage (three of four grandparents), and as the former Commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), I have had a unique seat to observe the close ties between our countries.

Our partnership with Canada in areas of mutual defense took an important turn after World War II. In 1947, the U.S. and Canada signed a “Joint Statement on Defense Collaboration.” Two years later, the two nations signed the Canada–U.S. Emergency Defense Plan and established the Military Cooperation Committee, initiating a detailed partnership that would lead to the signing of the first NORAD Agreement in 1958.  As Soviet threats emerged during the Cold War, the warning, assessment, and response capabilities of both the U.S. and Canada also evolved.  In fact, when the Cold War ended, instead of reducing the mission or dissolving the defense agreements, both nations agreed to grow and expand the mission statement for NORAD to address new threats to both countries. Two such examples were the addition of the anti-drug mission to the air sovereignty focus of both countries in 1989 and the evolving global counterterrorist activities that continue today.

Keep reading...Show less
Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.
Threat Con 2025

Related Articles

With the World Turning Against Him, Putin's Going to Need a Way Out

The Cipher Brief spoke with former Canadian National Security Advisor and former Deputy Minister of National Defence Richard B. Fadden about the [...] More

Intelligence Sharing in a Complicated World: The Future of Five Eyes

Intelligence Sharing in a Complicated World: The Future of Five Eyes

In the midst of World War II, facing multiple threats in a complicated series of engagements around the world, the US and the UK entered into a [...] More

'Bringing Down the Hammer' on China Trade Negotiations

Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou is out on bail in Vancouver while she fights an extradition request to the United States. This, as President Donald Trump [...] More

Five Eyes Intel Sharing Unhindered By Trump Tweets

Five Eyes Intel Sharing Unhindered By Trump Tweets

Bottom Line: While President Donald Trump’s tweets at times unnerve America’s closest allies, especially those that attack U.S. intelligence and law [...] More

The Canada-U.S. Defence Relationship: What Next?

When President Barack Obama came to Ottawa as part of the “bromance” with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he said that the world needed “more Canada,” [...] More

The Outlook for Energy Cooperation between Canada and the U.S.

The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States has officially triggered a wave of significant policy changes in [...] More