This chapter examines the stark asymmetries of power as a major explanatory variable in the relative absence of summitry in North American governance. International relations scholars, and realists in particular, would argue that the unwillingness of the United States to engage in institutions or formal summitry is mainly about hegemony, power, and preservation of sovereignty. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) created the shallowest forms of institutionalization, which largely preserved many traditional patterns of Westphalian sovereignty while simultaneously dismantling others. It established regular ministerial-level meetings, but entrenched management of the agreement in the respective national bureaucracies, making elements of the relationship not covered by the agreement difficult to elevate onto the political agenda. America's dominance of the regional economic and security space has meant that most of the North American agenda is anchored in US domestic political and regulatory institutions.