Specialists on United States–Canada relations have been struggling for some time to develop new theoretical frameworks for understanding the way the relationship works after NAFTA and 9/11. Most of what we have so far is primarily negative, in the sense that it focusses on where and how the relationship is different than it once was (“post-Cold War,” “post-NAFTA,” etc.). Geoffrey Hale's So Near Yet So Far is one of the most important efforts in recent years to develop a new, forward-looking framework, which captures the main dynamics of the relationship as it is today. And it is especially noteworthy for those with an interest in US politics and society, since – in stark contrast to much of the established literature on US–Canada relations – it begins by thinking carefully about how the American system actually works, and about how that shapes bilateral diplomatic relations.

The book is impressively thorough, working methodically through three different “dimensions,” borrowed from Charles Doran's classic Forgotten Partnership (1984) (political–strategic, trade–commercial, and psychological–cultural); five political/institutional contexts (classic state-to-state diplomacy, transgovernmental networks, Canada's engagement with Congress, public diplomacy and transnational coalition-building, and federal and subfederal relations); and four policy areas (homeland security and public safety, borders, trade, and energy/environment). It is also impressively thorough in the number and variety of sources consulted, including many dozens of interviews with US and Canadian government officials.

Hale's framework is mostly about mapping out the complexity of the bilateral relationship, by showing off the way that policy outcomes on any given issue are driven by the pushing and shoving of a wide variety of different actors and interests, interacting with one another within and across a number of different institutional contexts, often all at once. These different pathways for political influence and institutionalization are made more concrete in the case studies that Hale provides in the later chapters (e.g. border security, energy, mad cow disease, softwood lumber), which are useful both as detailed analyses of particular issue areas and as illustrations of Hale's overarching framework.

These later chapters make it quite clear that there is no simple, single model for US–Canada policy coordination, but some readers will likely be disappointed that Hale hasn't advanced some kind of middle-range theory to try to explain when and how particular types of actor are likely to be more influential, particular pathways are likely to be more salient, or particular issues are more or less likely to find a cooperative resolution. Hale's determination to be thorough, to catalogue and categorize all of the different ways of looking at everything, and to avoid oversimplifying anything, is certainly a great strength of this book, but one could argue that it is also a limitation. The book's broad scope and eclectic approach may make it hard for the reader to find a focal point for the author's point of view, or to see clearly what is at stake in the theoretical debates he outlines. Hale himself doesn't see a problem here, making it plain that the book is meant to be “a journey of exploration, not … a definitive set of answers to the questions of a relationship whose scale, scope, complexity, and continuing evolution defy pat answers” (5). That is a sensible and safe way to proceed, especially when we are specifically looking for what is new and distinctive about the post-Cold War, post-NAFTA, post-9/11 context. But it could also be a little frustrating for those looking forward to the coalescence of a new set of parsimonious and distinctive theoretical viewpoints, and trying to map out battles lines between clashing views within this evolving field.

So Near Yet So Far is a weighty, multilayered, and thought-provoking study, which deserves the attention not only of specialists on US–Canada relations, but also of those with an interest in US politics and in diplomacy more broadly. It provides an excellent overview of the bilateral relationship's complexities and subtleties, for specialists looking to update what they know about the bilateral relationship, for teachers preparing courses on US–Canada relations, or for nonspecialist readers looking for an accessible and up-to-date introduction to this surprisingly rich and complex diplomatic relationship.