A Pyrrhic Hegemony: American Influence on Canada and Mexico within the Context of the Invasion of Iraq

The asocial concept of power in the George W. Bush administration led to a loss of influence in international politics, as was shown in Canadian and Mexican reactions to the American invasion of Iraq. The article presents a constructivist perspective of hegemony and the concept of power: it examines American hegemony and the asocial concept of power during the post-Cold War period and hegemony and the antisocial concept of power from 2001 onward; it describes Canadian and Mexican reactions to American unilateralism in Iraq; and it highlights the connection between domestic and foreign policy in the decisions made by Mexico and Canada with regard to the Iraq invasion.