Aronsen draws on recently declassified documents in Ottawa and Washington to provide a reassessment of Canada's special relationship with the U.S. Toward this end, detailed new information is provided about Canada's contribution to the creation of the postwar economic order from the Bretton Woods Agreement to GATT. Canada's cooperation was rewarded by special economic concessions including the extension of the Hyde Park agreement in 1945, the inclusion of the off-shore purchases clause to the Marshall Plan, and Article II of the NATO Treaty. After the outbreak of the Korean War, Canada's resources played a crucial role in the production of weapons systems for the new air/atomic strategic doctrine. Several policies were adopted to facilitate the expansion of Canadian defense production, notably the relaxation of regulations on technology transfer; the encouragement of private sector investment; and the negotiation of long-term contracts at above-market prices. In the midst of these unprecendented peacetime developments Time Magazine observed that Canada had become America's Indispensable Ally.

Edelgard Mahant and Graeme Mount examine details of White House policy from 1945 to the 1980s to assess the extent to which the United States could be said to have had a Canada policy. They challenge the popular nationalist view that Canada has been treated as peripheral and dependent, but also counter the opposing view that Washington has respected Canadian advice and benefitted from it. Instead, they argue that for the most part Canada has mattered little in Washington and that America's Canada policy is largely an ad hoc affair.

Center of Military History Publication 70-101- 1.

Building a Special Relationship offers thoughtful insight into Canadian and American foreign relations during the 1950s, when Canada and the United States found new diplomatic footing as allies in the shadow of the Cold War. This book shows how the Eisenhower years were crucial in forming the bilateral relationship that currently exists between Canada and the United States. Under President Eisenhower and Prime Ministers St. Laurent and Diefenbaker, policy makers on both sides of the border collaborated with an air of “tolerant accommodation” on significant issues of the day. Despite frequent differences, they established frameworks for defence, foreign policy, economic growth, and resource management, many of which endure today. For scholars and readers of political history, international relations, and diplomacy, Building a Special Relationship makes a compelling case that the Eisenhower era is key to understanding the ongoing bond between these two nations.

In 1958 Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts proclaimed at the University of New Brunswick that "Canada and the United States have carefully maintained the good fences that help make them good neighbours." He could not have foreseen that his presidency would be marked not just by some of the tensest moments of the Cold War but also by the most contentious moments in the Canadian-American relationship. Indeed, the 1963 Canadian federal election was marked by charges that the US government had engineered a plot to oust John Diefenbaker, Canada's nationalist prime minister. Camelot and Canada explores political, economic, and military elements in Canada-US relations in the early 1960s. Asa McKercher challenges the prevailing view that US foreign policymakers, including President Kennedy, were imperious in their conduct toward Canada. Rather, he shows that the period continued to be marked by the special diplomatic relationship that characterized the early postwar years. Even as Diefenbaker's government pursued distinct foreign and economic policies, American officials acknowledged that Canadian objectives legitimately differed from their own and adjusted their policies accordingly. Moreover, for all its bluster, Ottawa rarely moved without weighing the impact that its initiatives might have on Washington. At the same time, McKercher illustrates that there were significant strains on the bilateral relationship, which occurred as a result of mounting doubts in Canada about US leadership in the Cold War, growing Canadian nationalism, and Canadian concern over their country's close economic, military, and cultural ties with the United States. While personal clashes between the two leaders have become mythologized by historians and the public alike, the special relationship between their governments continued to function.

On August 24-25, 2010, the National Defense University held a conference titled “Economic Security: Neglected Dimension of National Security?” to explore the economic element of national power. This special collection of selected papers from the conference represents the view of several keynote speakers and participants in six panel discussions. It explores the complexity surrounding this subject and examines the major elements that, interacting as a system, define the economic component of national security.

This study evaluates the health of the U.S.-Canadian defense industrial relationship, which is critically important as the U.S. Department of Defense expands the national technology and industrial base. The CSIS study team gathered and analyzed a wide range of quantitative data and conducted interviews with government and industry officials involved with bilateral cooperation on both sides of the border. In addition to looking at top-level history, legislation, policy, and trends, the study team undertook five sectoral case studies highlighting different aspects of the benefits from and challenges facing bilateral cooperation. The study finds that the benefits to both partners exceed what either could obtain solely by relying only on its own national resources. While the overall U.S.-Canadian defense industrial relationship remains sound, the study team identifies a range of recommendations to enhance its value to both partners.