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Canadian/American oil diplomacy: the adjustment of conflicting national oil policies, 1955-1973

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:6321206

This study focuses on two primary objectives: the identification and analysis of those factors which have had the most significant influence on the process, and the testing of the hypothesis that the process of Canadian/American diplomacy is more formal and highly structured than has been suggested in the past. Eight major factors that have particularly influenced the process of Canadian/American oil diplomacy are identified and examined: (1) extra-continental factors; (2) oil-industry pressures; (3) US preoccupation with national security requirements; (4) Canadian preoccupation with its dependence upon the US; (5) internal bureaucratic environments in Canada and in the US; (6) disparate perceptions of the Canadian/American relationship; (7) level of diplomatic intervention; and (8) type of diplomatic intervention. The role of these factors are examined during three main eras of Canadian/American oil diplomacy between 1955 and 1973: (1) the era of policy formalization from 1955 until 1961; (2) the era of the numbers game from 1961 until 1967, when emphasis was placed in negotiating permissible levels of Canadian oil exports to the United States; and (3) the era of transition from 1968 until 1973. While not attempting to examine Canadian/American oil diplomacy within the framework of a single theoretical approach to negotiations, the concluding chapter places oil diplomacy within the context of a process model of negotiations.

Research Organization:
Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (USA)
OSTI ID:
6321206
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English