Stability and flexibility: The Rush-Bagot Agreement and the progressive modernization of Canadian-American security relations

Abstract

This dissertation examines the historical progression of the Rush-Bagot Agreement through the fundamental change versus transitory modernization debate that has emerged in North America as a result of the reorganization of continental security and defence since 2001. The Agreement, which was signed by Britain and the United States in 1817 and subsequently embraced by Canada upon its independence, has acted as a stable measure of the security and defence relationship on the continent throughout its entire history. It has persisted through nearly two centuries of industrialization, expansionism, war, and modernization, and remains relevant in governing security and defence relations on the Great Lakes. By tracing the development of this Agreement and relations on the Lakes through previous periods of continental and international discord, this paper suggests that the changes to continental security and defence since 2001 represent little more than the refurbishing of relations to address a new threat, and thus are consistent with past defence modernizations during periods of continental vulnerability.