With shared history and compatible systems, CANZUK presents a ready-made foundation for a 21st-century alliance.
The world is rapidly moving through the stages of grief when it comes to dealing with the ‘new United States.’
Initial denial that anything was amiss in the United States rapidly gave way to anger, particularly regarding the abrogation of trade deals, tariffs, and annexation threats. Anger gave way to bargaining, a stage some are still in as they look for the elusive hook to get things ‘back to normal’ with the U.S. Many, particularly those who once revered the United States, still feel a sense of sadness at what the U.S. has become. But most importantly, there is a growing acceptance that America’s disturbing turn necessitates new trade relationships and defence partners.
And Canada, a nation with much to lose from America’s drift toward economic nationalism and unilateralism, needs only look to its historical kinship with the Commonwealth to find enduring partners.
CANZUK
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were all once part of the British Empire. While those nations are all now sovereign, close ties remain, including the use of the Westminster system, common law, a prominent (though shared with the French-language in Canada) role for English, and, of course, a shared constitutional monarch in King Charles III.
Alone, these commonalities would make a strong case for cooperation between the four nations. That case gets even stronger when we look at total economic power, population, and military heft.
Were the CANZUK nations to form an alliance that included free trade, free movement, foreign policy alignment, and mutual defence, it would be a formidable bloc, with a combined GDP exceeding CAD 8 trillion, ranking third globally behind the United States and China, and ahead of Japan and Germany. CANZUK would also encompass a population of roughly 140 million and a credible military. For example, the U.K. has many highly proficient defence contractors (BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Babcock, and others) that could be scaled up with deeper integration across CANZUK nations. This would also help Canada reduce its current overdependence on the United States in areas of national defence.
Networks of Protection
In an increasingly multipolar and unstable world, Canada must embed itself in as many overlapping security networks as possible. Forming a defence pact with CANZUK nations would deepen our security, because CANZUK nations have defence relationships that Canada is currently not a part of. For example, the UK is looking at forming a defence pact with the European Union, while Australia has recently been deepening defence ties with nations such as Japan and Indonesia. Were Canada to be embedded within a defence pact that includes the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, we would benefit from a larger network of deterrence. Other nations would be more hesitant to act against us if they knew that hostility could lead to many nations being brought into a potential military conflict.
Addition, not Exclusion
There would be some pushback to CANZUK within Canada. Some in Quebec may oppose the idea of deepening ties to English-speaking nations. This understandable concern could be mitigated by Canada simultaneously pursuing deeper ties with France and members of the La Francophonie. Our approach to new alliances and pacts in this era of instability should be to add, not exclude. We should pursue as many alliances as we can with like-minded democratic nations and should signal that we are willing to serve as a force for stability, trade, and openness.
The era of a dominant and dependable America is waning. Rather than mourning its decline, Canada should seize the opportunity to shape a more resilient and diversified global role.
Spencer Fernando
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