Contributing Writer Robin Sears begins from the textbook premise that sovereignty is indivisible, and goes on to make the point that security and trade agreements usually involve some surrender of sovereignty. He points to NATO and the European Union, as well as the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement, as prime examples. NATO member states serve under NATO command. A united Europe, rising from the ashes of war, is a global economic powerhouse. The FTA has given Canada and the US secure market access, but not without costs in sovereignty to both countries. Since the time of Sir John A. Macdonald, he notes, Canadian sovereignty has been, for better or worse, a function of the relationship with the United States.

Canada in North America: from political sovereignty to economic integration in this month’s issue of Policy Options.