Among the many things that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump stands to learn upon returning to office is that his visions of outright U.S. domination in the Western Hemisphere are deeply outdated.

In fact, as the United States has neglected to build strong and more equal partnerships, there are few places left in the hemisphere where Washington’s word automatically still holds sway.

Among the many things that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump stands to learn upon returning to office is that his visions of outright U.S. domination in the Western Hemisphere are deeply outdated.

In fact, as the United States has neglected to build strong and more equal partnerships, there are few places left in the hemisphere where Washington’s word automatically still holds sway.

From Washington’s perspective, problems loom to the north and south. Many of these are of Trump’s own making or at least risk being aggravated by the hard nationalist stances that he routinely substitutes for carefully thought-out policy. These include increasingly direct threats aimed at places as far-flung as Canada, Greenland, and Panama, warning them of stern economic measures and even hinting at military intervention if they do not buckle to his demands.

Take Canada, where long-standing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has just resigned—in part, one imagines, due to the poor nature of his relationship with the incoming Trump administration. During his campaign, Trump puzzlingly insisted that he would impose big new tariffs on Canada, which he rationalized as penalties for its alleged failure to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and deadly narcotics to the United States—despite the lack of evidence that Canada is a major........

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