A fter 9/11, the Bush Administration moved rapidly to form the Office of Homeland Security and a new military organization responsible for homeland defense, US Northern Command (NORTHCOM). In accordance with US law, NORTHCOM was established as a US-only military organization, one with unique hemispheric responsibilities. Upon the command's activation in October 2002, the United States now had inescapable influence on a newly defined geographic area of responsibility that included Canada and

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... co. 1 This unilateral move did not go unnoticed either to the north or south, and it revived within Canadian political circles long-standing concerns about Canada's national sovereignty. The Canadian government was concerned about how US Northern Command would affect both the Canada-US defense and security partnership and its own role in this relationship. On 5 December 2002, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, William Graham, signed the Diplomatic Agreement for Enhanced Military Cooperation between Canada and the United States. Although heralded as a significant geopolitical event, the reality was that the agreement was politically and strategically more important for Canada than it was for the United States. 2 Once again, the defense of the North American continent, the Canadian-US defense and security partnership, the issue of Canadian national sovereignty, and the historical tendency of the United States to act unilaterally returned to the forefront of Canadian politics. Because of the unilateral actions taken by the United States after 9/11, Canada believed it was on the verge of being marginalized. The reason was that with the establishment of Northern Command, the utility of the long-standing North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a diplomatically Autumn 2006 103 Bernard Stancati holds a doctorate degree in management from Colorado Technical University, in Colorado Springs, where he is an adjunct professor teaching world history, world culture and values, and organizational behavior. Dr. Stancati retired from the US Air Force in 1996 after nearly 21 years of service that began as a laboratory specialist and ended as a headquarters staff officer in a joint assignment at NORAD and United States Space Command. He also has been a private consultant in the defense contracting industry.