User:The Devil's Advocate/North American Union

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The North American Union (NAU) is a theoretical concept discussed in several proposals from academic, business and political circles for deepening integration of Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Some proposals refer to the concept as a North American Community and include similar features. Proposals usually include the creation of a common market, sometimes rising to the level of an economic union, and a limited form of supranational government. A common currency called the Amero or the North American Dollar is also included in several proposals. In some cases the concept has been structured similar to the European Union.

Following the formation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), some critics of North American integration efforts claimed the dialogue was secretly working to create such a union. Government officials from all three nations have responded to these claims by saying there are no plans to create such a union and no agreement to do so has been signed. Claims about the imminent formation of a North American Union are considered conspiracy theories.

Background
In November 1979 when Ronald Reagan formally announced that he would run in the 1980 U.S. Presidential Election, he included in his announcement a call for a "North American Accord" that would create a common market between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Reagan saw this proposal as a solution to illegal immigration and other problems between the U.S. and its neighbors. Within six years Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney initiated negotiations with the Reagan Administration that led to the signing of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) in 1988. This agreement served as a template for negotiations with Mexico that were eventually expanded to include Canada in what became the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The agreement was signed into law by President Clinton on December 8, 1993 creating what was, at the time, the largest trade bloc in the world in terms of GDP.

Several years later, some academics began proposing an expansion of NAFTA or "NAFTA-Plus" to address perceived problems with the initial agreement and officials also began discussing ways to expand on the agreement. Additionally, the September 11th attacks made security a high priority, particularly within the United States, and concerns about restrictions on North American trade served as a further impetus for negotiations. As a result of these negotiations the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) was formed on March 23, 2005. It was described by the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States as a dialogue to provide greater cooperation on security and economic issues. A number of academics and government officials at the time viewed the SPP as moving North America towards greater integration.

During a private round-table discussion on the Security and Prosperity Partnership on March 15, 2006 Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez advocated creating a North American Competitiveness Council composed of business leaders from all three NAFTA countries in order to ensure sustainable regional integration and address issues that might impede such integration. Just over two weeks later the council was formed as an SPP working group. It submitted several reports suggesting new measures on deepening integration of the NAFTA region including a Regulatory Cooperation Framework and a trilateral tax treaty to "provide clear rules governing tax matters affecting trade and investment between the three countries".

The initiative was officially ended on August 2009 though the North American Leaders' Summit and most of the working groups set up under the initiative remain active. Several advocates of integration saw the SPP as being insufficient. One criticism was that the governments lacked a "vision of what North America might become" and as such did not provide the proper context that would allow the initiative to deal with barriers to deeper integration. Another problem seen with the dialogue was that it operated from a federal perspective at the exclusion of state, provincial, and local government involvement. The separation between the security aspect of the initiative and the economic aspect was also seen as a failing of the initiative.

Proposals for a union
Since at least the mid-19th century, concepts of a union between Canada, Mexico and the United States, some including Caribbean, Central American and South American countries, have been proposed, such as the North American Technate. Following the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Maastricht Treaty going into effect there was speculation about the formation of a North American Union, similar to the European Union created by Maastricht, being a possible future step for the region. Several proposals for continental integration of North America advocated the creation of a union styled after the European Union, though many academic and business groups advocated less dramatic changes involving the formation of a customs union or common market.

The Amero
Canadian economist Herbert G. Grubel, a senior fellow of the Fraser Institute, published a book entitled The Case for the Amero in September 1999, the year that the euro became a virtual currency, advocating the adoption of a common North American currency. Another Canadian think-tank, the conservative C.D. Howe Institute, backed the creation of a shared currency between Canada and the United States. Although then-Mexican President Vicente Fox had expressed support for the idea, when Grubel brought up the idea to American officials, they said they were not interested, citing lack of benefits for the U.S.

The Director of International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, Benn Steil, has called monetary nationalism and globalization a dangerous combination. Furthermore, he's recommended that, in order to safely globalize, the world must "abandon unwanted currencies, replacing them with dollars, euros, and multinational currencies as yet unborn." Lending support for the end of national currencies, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Eric van Wincoop, coauthored a journal article that argued the economical prudence of a common currency between nations, "The use of different moneys across borders can form a barrier as there are costs in exchanging currencies in spot and forward markets and traders face uncertainty about currency movements that cannot always be hedged. A common currency also leads to greater transparency of price differentials." Cross border trade costs are likened to that of a tariff roughly equivalent to 170%. Forty-four percent of that "tariff" is attributed to "border related trade barriers" which breaks down as follows, "a 8% policy barrier, a 7% language barrier, a 14% currency barrier (from the use of different currencies), a 6% information cost barrier, and a 3% security barrier."

Robert Pastor
Robert Pastor in his 2001 book "Towards a North American Community: Lessons from the Old World for the New" supported Grubel's call for a currency union stating that: "In the long term, the amero is in the best interests of all three countries." Professor Robert Pastor has also suggested forming a North American Commission similar to the European Commission and other governing institutions for North America.

Vicente Fox
Jorge Castañeda, serving as a policy advisor to then Mexican Presidential candidate Vicente Fox, was influenced by the ideas Robert Pastor had on deepening integration of NAFTA and encouraged Fox to adopt these policies as part of his campaign. Before and after the election Fox made appearances on several U.S. news programs advocating greater integration including a plan to open up the U.S.-Mexico border within ten years. Some in the United States saw this proposal for open borders as a call for or inevitable step towards a "North American Union" and received it with a mixture of praise and criticism, with critics like Pat Buchanan fearing it would mean an end to U.S. sovereignty.

In a 2001 interview for Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy Fox said that he sought with the United States a "convergence of our two economies, convergence on the basic and fundamental variables of the economy, convergence on rates of interest, convergence on income of people, convergence on salaries." He suggested this might take as long as 20 years to be realized, but the ultimate "convergence" he saw between the United States and Mexico would allow them to "erase that border, open up that border for [the] free flow of products, merchandises, [and] capital as well as people". Fox noted the success he said countries like Ireland and Spain have had in modernizing their economies and bringing higher standards of living for their citizens by joining what is now the European Union.

After taking office, Vicente Fox proposed a plan to President Bush of the United States and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien that he said would move towards a supranational union in the form of the European Union. Fox's proposal was rejected by President Bush. In a 2007 online discussion of his book Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith, and Dreams of A Mexican President Fox cited the process of European integration and asked a questioner, "Why can't we be not only partners in the long term, but a North American Union?"

The Independent Task Force on North America
Another proposal came from an effort organized by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, and the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations called the Independent Task Force on North America. Several weeks before the announcement of the Security and Prosperity Partnership for North America the Task Force issued a press release and a statement from the Task Force's chairmen calling for deeper integration of NAFTA to form a North American Economic and Security Community by 2010.

The Task Force published a report in May of 2005 which praised the SPP initiative and pushed for greater economic integration by 2010. They repeated their call for the "establishment by 2010 of a North American economic and security community, the boundaries of which would be defined by a common external tariff and an outer security perimeter." In the report the Task Force said that a North American Community, which would be similar to the European Community which preceded the EU, should not rely on "grand schemes of confederation or union" and did not suggest a supranational government or a common currency. The Task Force’s recommendations included developing a North American common market, investment fund, security perimeter, and advisory council, among other common goals.

Canadian-American union
The concept of a North American union is sometimes limited to a union of Canada and the United States. It has also been proposed as a potential intermediary step towards a North American union with Mexico to be included at a later date. The latter method has been likened to the European Union's multi-speed approach towards integration with the United States advancing in its integration with Canada faster than with Mexico.

In this scenario the border between the U.S. and Canada would be opened up to goods, services, and people. Part of this could include the formation of a security perimeter around the two countries with reduced focus on security along the national borders. The perimeter approach has been discussed publicly by officials of the U.S. and Canadian governments. Pursuing a union between Canada and the United States could raise concerns that such an agreement would set a precedent for a later agreement of the same kind with Mexico. Another concern is that Canada would end up seeing its sovereignty severely contrained in such a relationship.

Claims of implementation
In 2005, claims emerged from critics of North American integration that a "North American Union" was not only being planned, but was being implemented by the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States. These critics cited the formation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America and claimed it was an attempt to dramatically alter the economic and political status quo between the countries outside of the scrutiny of the respective national legislatures, a critique heightened by the subsequent publication of the Independent Task Force on North America report which praised the SPP initiative and called for greater economic integration by 2010.

While a broad spectrum of observers criticize the secrecy of the SPP and its dominance by business groups, the specific claim that its true aim was to expand NAFTA into a North American Union analogous to the European Union (EU), with open borders and a common currency among other features, was being made by the fall of 2006, when conservative commentators Phyllis Schlafly, Jerome Corsi and Howard Phillips started a website dedicated to quashing what they perceived as the coming North American "Socialist mega-state."

The belief that a North American Union was being planned and implemented in secret became widespread, so much so that the NAU was a topic of debate during the 2008 American presidential campaigns and the subject of various U.S. Congressional resolutions designed to thwart its implementation. Prominent critics such as CNN’s Lou Dobbs and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul denounced the concept, joined by left-wing groups in Canada, Internet blogs, and widely viewed videos and films such as "Zeitgeist". Corsi’s 2007 book "The Late Great USA: The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada" also helped bring the NAU discussion into the mainstream. Others who dismiss these beliefs maintain they are the latest example of a long line of erroneous conspiracy theories which suggest that the United States’ sovereignty is being eroded by a secret cabal of foreign and domestic players.

Some of these NAU skeptics, while expressing concern about the lack of transparency of the SPP, note that this is not evidence of a plot to create a North American Union:

"The idea of a regional union that effaces U.S. sovereignty is light-years away from George W. Bush's foreign policy of unilateral action and disdain for international law and institutions."

Some NAU critics claim the actual goals of the SPP were confirmed by the Task Force, and by the Task Force’s co-chair American University professor Robert Pastor. Critics often cite Pastor as being the “father” of the NAU and his 2001 book "Towards a North American Community: Lessons from the Old World for the New" has been called a blueprint for the plan, and includes a suggestion to adopt a common North American currency called the amero. Professor Robert Pastor is a Vice Chair of the Independent Task Force on the Future of North America who has suggested forming a North American Commission similar to the European Commission and other governing institutions for North America.

Various positive comments about a North American Union concept and an eventual common currency for the Americas by Vicente Fox, in particular some made during a promotional tour for a book in 2007, have been cited by critics as evidence that the body is in fact being enacted or planned.

On August 31, 2007, Internet broadcaster and conspiracy theorists Hal Turner and Ace Sabau claimed to have arranged for a United States Government minted amero coin to be smuggled out of the U.S. Treasury Department by an employee of that organization. Snopes has assessed both Turner's story and the existence of the amero as "false."

NAFTA superhighway
The Trans-Texas Corridor was first proposed by Texas Governor Rick Perry in 2002. It consists of a 1,200 foot (366 m) wide highway that also carries utilities such as electricity, petroleum, and water, as well as railway track and fiber-optic cables. In July 2007, U.S. Representative and candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2008 presidential election Duncan Hunter successfully offered an amendment to House Resolution 3074, the FY2008 Transportation Appropriations Act, prohibiting the use of federal funds for U.S. Department of Transportation participation in the activities of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). Hunter stated that:

"Unfortunately, very little is known about the NAFTA Super Highway. This amendment will provide Congress the opportunity to exercise oversight of the highway, which remains a subject of question and uncertainty, and ensure that our safety and security will not be compromised in order to promote the business interests of our neighbors."

Fellow Republican Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul brought the issue to mainstream prominence during the December 2007 CNN-YouTube GOP debate, where he rejected the concept and also called it "the NAFTA Superhighway" and, like Hunter, framed it within "the ultimate goal" of creating a North American Union.

The Ministry of Transportation for the province of Alberta displays a diagram on their website that labels I-29 and I-35 as "NAFTA Trade Corridors".

Official responses to claims
In September 2006, U.S. Representative Virgil Goode proposed with six co-sponsors non-binding House Concurrent Resolution 487, which specifically outlined opposition to a North American Union or a NAFTA Superhighway as a threat to U.S. sovereignty. The bill never left committee. The same resolution was reintroduced by Goode in January 2007 for the 110th Congress as House Concurrent Resolution 40, this time with forty-three cosponsors, including 2008 Republican presidential candidates Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo, who have all expressed opposition to a North American Union during their campaigns.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez stated in 2007: "There is no secret plan to create a North American union, or a common currency, or to intrude on the sovereignty of any of the partner nations".

Regarding the NAFTA superhighway, officials from the Federal Highway Administration have denied such a scheme. Also, the NASCO denies a new proposal for a "NAFTA superhighway" saying, "it exists today as I-35."

In an August 2007 press conference in Montebello, Quebec, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated that he didn't believe that the NAU was a "generally expressed concern", while U.S. President George W. Bush called concerns of a North American Union "political scare tactics" and described as "comical" the "difference between reality and what some people are talking on TV about."

A section was put up on the SPP's site clarifying the initiative was not a legal agreement, that it did not "seek to rewrite or renegotiate NAFTA", and that the partnership itself created no "NAFTA-plus legal status."

Literature
Some form of North American Union is a common trope in science fiction literature. Examples include:
 * In the space opera the Lensman series by E.E. Smith, in Volume Two of the series, the 1950 book First Lensman, one of the heroes, Roderick Kinnison (a member of the Galactic Patrol), wins election as President of North America on the "Cosmocratic Party" ticket against the corrupt Witherspoon, who ran on the "Nationalist Party" ticket. North America still uses the electoral college system. The President of North America has a five year term.  North America is a republic composed of the former nations of Canada, the United States, and Mexico.  Its constituent states are the former provinces of Canada, states of the United States, and states of Mexico. (This would make a total of 91 states, assuming the Canadian territories had not yet become states by that time.)  The novel takes place several hundred years in the future after Earth has recovered from the late 20th century World War III and has developed interstellar travel using the inertialess drive.
 * Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace takes place in the near future with a common North American currency, and a strong US-led North American confederation.
 * Montezuma Strip and The Mocking Program, both by Alan Dean Foster, take place along the U.S.-Mexican border in a North American Union. The Union police are called Federales.

Television

 * The CBC miniseries The Trojan Horse, sequel to H2O: The Last Prime Minister, has as its setting a referendum on Canada merging into the United States. It passes, and the last Prime Minister of Canada eventually runs for President of the United States.
 * The Sci Fi Channel series FTL Newsfeed, set in the future world of the 22nd century, featured a number of world economic combines, one of which is the North American Union. Its flag is a variant of the United States flag, with the Canadian maple leaf in place of the stars. Unlike most modern concepts of such a union, this version only consists of the USA and Canada. Its system of government is basically the same as the USA's current system, albeit without the Electoral College.