The Mexicans are coming in and Canada is practically part of the US anyways... so why not?

Don't take that header too seriously.

There was a little blurb in the news about President Bush’s meeting with Canadian PM Stephen Harper and Mexican Pres. Felipe Calderón over the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) yesterday and today. Fox News reporter Bret Baier asked for comments on the rumors that this was a prelude to a “North American Union” similar to the European Union. It was dismissed. Particularly memorable was PM Harper’s joke that they were also planning a superhighway into outer space. This was a reference to plans for a North American superhighway that would connect Canada, the USA, and Mexico.

I can hazily remember when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was brought up and how much opposition that received. There was talk about the New World Order and the US surrendering her sovereignty to supranational entities. The same can be said about the United Nations I suppose.

Personally, I am all about economic cooperation especially with Canada and Mexico. As it stands right now, I don’t really see anything that has changed with the passage of NAFTA. Actually, I think that NAFTA is a joke. Where exactly is the “Free Trade?” As far as I can see, that agreement entailed no more than regulatory shakeup. I do, however, share the concerns of SPP opponents about the possibility of the creation of an EU-like entity. But I’m not at the panic mode yet as I have not seen anything beyond a broad framework and most of that deals with streamlining regulatory bureaucracy. And although I do not share their alarm, I do think that they make a very good point that Congress should be watching President Bush very closely in how SPP is unfolding.

Back during the 2000 Presidential Election, Gov. Bush ran on a foreign policy platform which was at odds with what he now has. This was, of course, due to the 9/11 attacks in New York and Virginia. But before then, Pres. Bush was in the process of making good on one of his campaign pledges—strengthening ties with the American countries. (He also promised no “nation building” [cough] Iraq [/cough].) He wanted a foreign policy shift away from Europe and centered more on development of the Americas. That was one of the reasons why Secretary of State Colin Powell was in South America on 9/11. I think it is a worthy policy objective.

I don’t like seeing the United States as world superpower that has to be in places where it doesn’t really need to be. For instance, there is a strategic interest to have military bases in Japan but is it a pressing one? I think no. So I would be much happier if the US was to reduce its world presence in terms of military and political might and concentrate it back in our neighborhood. I believe the development of OAS members to an economic level of the US and Canada would be more beneficial in the long run to the US’s strategic interests than nation building in the Middle East or policing in East Asia. This (and this where the conspiracy nuts go, “Ah-ha”) is because I do see political/economic blocs as being in our future. If the United States is to enter into one, I think that it needs to be careful in positioning itself so that it does not become the pig that all other member states need to suckle from. Although an Anglo bloc (with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK) seems to be more natural and equitable, a Pan American bloc seems, to me, to be more likely if and when a bloc should ever be formed.