CANZUK (Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand), potential new emerging block

In the Trump era, the plan for a Canadian-U.K.-Australia-New Zealand trade alliance is quickly catching on
http://business.financialpost.com/f...zealand-trade-alliance-is-quickly-catching-on

The world has changed

• The U.K leaving Europe will possibly be the trigger
• NAFTA in it's current form will be dead with possible trade wars between the US and Canada
• Post-Cold-War alliances are obsolete
• The United States has become an unreliable and unpredictable partner (Quoting Angela Merkel)

The idea

• The idea of a free trade and free movement of labour zone is getting more traction in respective countries(the freedom to live and work in each others’ countries) and defence-partnership agreement possibly as soon as the United Kingdom "Brexit" comes into full effect
• Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand share a similar culture & similar values, same language and similar legal, business and social systems
• laws and constitutions share many features
• citizens enjoy a roughly similar per capita GDP

Challenges

• Changing current Immigration laws
• Political structure: CANZUK Parliament?
• Common currency or not? Status quo, pounds or dollars?
• Where's the CANZUK HQ? Ottawa, Canberra or Wellington? London would not be well received as it would be perceived as the British Empire revival. Ottawa makes sense due to it's proximity with the United States and the United Nations
• What to do with the Monarchy? Australians are against it and Canadians are starting to get the monarchy "fatigue"
• The future of the Commonwealth?
• Flag?
• Public perception?

Potential

• largest total landmass of any free-trade zone
• 4th largest market in the world, after the U.S., EU and China
• 3rd in military spending well ahead of Russia
• On European Geostrategy’s geopolitical power index, the CANZUK countries collectively have a strength around 70 per cent of that of the U.S. — and nearly twice that of China or France.

The 2016 chart

 

European nations have very diverse history, values, language, laws constitution and old rivalries.

CANZUK has a better chance of success since we're almost similar or the same at every level without necessarily having to become a "super country"

 

Too unbalanced in terms of economic profile, different history & culture, past colonialism resentment, you'd be recreating a dysfunctional European Union.

 

That is clearly not how it works, and I doubt Australia can fit that category since they've been trying to get rid of the monarchy

Not really...besides being trading partners and going to war with one another in 1812 and we know how that went...

 

I can't speak for Australia or New Zealand, but Canada (who wasn't a country yet) didn't need to revolt against England.

The 1774 Quebec Act, which was viewed as an "intolerable" act by the 13 colonies after England defeated France in the 7 year war, was a trigger of the American revolution. In a nutshell, the 13 colonies wanted all of Quebec territory and the defeated French colonists (which I'm a descendant off) out of there, but the British crown voided their claim and allowed French colonists to stay, keep their culture, added territory in exchange to their allegiance to the crown.

Then came the war of 1812, where we said "thanks but no thanks" to be part of the United States with everything else that followed.

1867, Quebec joined Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to create the Dominion of Canada.

We earned our sovereignty December 11th 1931 with the statute of Westminster, mainly thanks to Canada's contribution in World War I. Vimy Ridge in France had fallen to the Germans in 1914.

The French and the British fought to take it back for 2 years until 4 divisions of the Canadian Corps relieved the British in October 1916. They spent the entire winter planning the battle and on April 9th 1917,the Canadian Corps attacked the German and took the Ridge the next day by noon, forcing Germans to withdraw after heavy casualties. The stalemate was broken in France and Canada (symbolically) was born (Robert Borden was the Prime Minister).

We didn't need to revolt and we ended up being our own country regardless. Otherwise, we would have been part of the US and I happen to enjoy the universal healthcare, social programs. low criminality and gun control as seen in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

 

But it's night and day in terms of social policies. We're closer to Europe than the US in that regard.