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Canada and the World Backgrounder articles from September 2004
A bimonthly magazine that provides background information on current events. Written specifically for high school students, as well as teachers and librarians. Individual issues are devoted to one political or social issue, which is considered both as an
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Canada and the World Backgrounder archives from September 2004
People and politics: a lot of people are unhappy with the U.S. these days, but amidst the criticism some are pointing out that the country, and its people, have plenty to be proud of too.(Superpower--Introduction)
September 1, 2004... A Survey of America feature in The Economist in November 2003 quotes Alexis de Tocqueville as saying that "Everything about the Americans is extraordinary, but what is more extraordinary still is the soil that supports them." The article goes...
The best democracy money can buy: the U.S. electoral system is like no other in the world; at least for presidential candidates, it runs at full throttle for about two years.(Superpower--Elections)
September 1, 2004... Political candidates in the U.S. need enormous amounts of money. So, their first challenge is fund-raising because without a well-filled war chest no candidate has a hope.
It costs millions to buy campaign advertising, to pay pollsters,...
The (not so) almighty dollar: the U.S. economy is by far the world's biggest; add up the Gross Domestic Product of several of its nearest competitors and they still don't equal the American giant.(Superpower--Economy)
September 1, 2004... The U.S. dollar is THE world currency, and almost all nations conduct their economic policies in the context of what is happening to the dollar. Since the end of World War II, half of all exports, most oil transactions, and nearly 70 percent of...
Survival of the richest: under the Bush administration, Social Darwinism has been the philosophy of choice; the rich have become richer and the poor have become poorer. A lot of Americans think it's time for a change.(Superpower--Social Conditions)
September 1, 2004... The top one percent of Americans now owns 38 percent of the country's wealth, while the bottom 40 percent own one percent. The bottom 80 percent of households have only 17 percent of the wealth, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Put...
The lone ranger: George W. Bush's use of raw military power has created hostility among allies and has hardened enmity elsewhere. Former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco, Margaret Tutwiler, says "it will take us many years of hard, focussed work" to restore America's standing abroad.(Superpower--Foreign Policy)
September 1, 2004... The United States has a long history of keeping out of foreign entanglements--a policy called isolationism. The country's first president, George Washington (1789-97) told his fellow citizens: "It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent...
Iraq: the wrong war: the front cover of the 29 May 2004 issue of The Economist has a caricature of President George W. Bush sitting on a camel's back, lost in the desert, asking "Remind me how I got here".(Superpower--Foreign Policy)
September 1, 2004... Evidence has now come out that the Bush administration was spoiling for a fight with Iraq's dictator, Saddam Hussein, right from its first week in office. The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 gave the White House the grounds around which...
Quote ... unquote.
September 1, 2004... "The United States has so much power that, barring a miracle, it is difficult to see how the temptation to use it unwisely will ever disappear."
David Rieff, Mother Jones, 2004
"America's destiny is to police the world."
Max Boot,...
Friends and foes: sometimes, we've been at war with one another. At other times, we've fought side-by-side against the same enemies.(Prime Ministries And Presidents)(United States-Canada relations through history)
September 1, 2004... Prime Ministers and Presidents come and go, and as they do the relationship between Canada and the United States changes--sometimes it's warm and cordial, at others it's distant and icy. And, the state of the personal relationship between...
Ka-Ching: no two nations have such close or broad trade relations as Canada and the United States. Sometimes, that closeness is tested.(Trade)
September 1, 2004... When it comes to trade the U.S. plays a very hard game. There are few better (or worse, depending on which side of the border you live) examples of this than the endless fights over softwood lumber.
For as long as anyone can remember,...
Inside fortress North America: a huge challenge for Canada is maintaining its close trading relationship with the United States without losing its sovereignty.(Security)
September 1, 2004... September the eleventh--9/11--an event burned into the American consciousness. The people of the most powerful nation in the world felt vulnerable, and they still do. The response has been to secure the borders; to try to ensure than no more...
Two views: many observers have noted that it's hard to find two neighbouring countries more alike than Canada and the United States. That may be so at first glance. Look a little closer and marked differences show up.(Contrasts)
September 1, 2004... Michael Adams, who has been studying opinions in both Canada and the U.S. for a couple of decades, says our values actually are going in different directions. Mr. Adams is President of Environics, a public opinion polling company. He says polls...