ABSTRACT
Relations between the United States and Canada have been affected by their images of each other since American independence. Over time, however, each country’s internal development, including its demography, economy, and culture, its position in and the idea of itself in the wider world, and the nature of its relations with its neighbor, would become the key drivers of how that neighbor was viewed. This chapter examines the literature on the role that images of the other play in their relations. It addresses questions of when and how these images matter and whether the physical contiguity of borderlands’ regions makes a difference. The asymmetry of the United States–Canada relationship, including the greater importance that images of the United States have for Canadians and their governments, is discussed.
