Whatever your thoughts are on Brexit, something
interesting is happening because of it.
An idea for a project, long made impossible
by Britain’s EU membership, is gaining traction.
I’m talking about CANZUK: The “project
name” for an “economic and political union”
between Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and
the UK.
So.. what does that mean?
Well.. these 4 countries were once part of
the British Empire, but after its dissolution
in the mid 1900’s, they all went their separate
ways, with the UK soon joining what would
become the EU.
Now that they suddenly had 4 nations that
were similar culturally and had people whose
relatives lived all over, they might have
wanted to get some agreements in place to
allow freedom of movement, trade, etc...
However, The problems that would arise from
being a part of two political unions kept
the UK away, and with the centerpiece missing,
the nations drifted apart.
So nowadays, aside from sharing the same head
of state and a few military cooperation with
the US, the CANZUK nations have no special
relationship.
Well, except for Australia and New Zealand,
whose citizens can live and work in both countries.
Spearheaded by the organization “CANZUK
International”, the CANZUK movement seeks
to enter the four nations into a “CANZUK
union” promising free trade, cooperation
in foreign policy and military matters, and
perhaps most excitingly: freedom of movement.
This means that Brits who want to live somewhere
spacious, Canadians who want to live somewhere
warmer and the Australians and New Zealanders
who want to live somewhere not in the middle
of nowhere, could be in luck.
Now there is no doubt that many Brits would
prefer to stay in the EU, and would roll their
eyes at the idea of making such a big fuss
over leaving one union, only to join another.
But proponents of CANZUK argue that their
union lacks many of the features that have
made the EU so unpopular in Britain.
First off: they promise that the CANZUK union
would be more like the historical European
Economic Area than the current EU, strictly
focusing on freedom of trade and movement,
and not developing into what many perceive
of, as a distant, out-of-touch federal government.
Second of all, the CANZUK nations share a
language, a monarch, and a history (as well
as similar values.)
Not to mention similar political systems and
cultures, arguably leading to a better sense
of unity... and polling does consistently
show that these countries all consider each
other to be their “best friends” in the
world.
Finally, all have similar national goals and
face similar challenges, and they have comparable
standards of living, and wealth.
This mostly prevents the problem of some countries
having to contribute a lot more into the treasury
than others, as well as one-sided economic
migration, where the movement of people only
goes one way.
CANZUK international is quick to point out
that there are more British citizens living
in Australia than the entire European Union
combined.
Since the Brexit vote in July 2016, CANZUK
has gained endorsements from prominent politicians,
political parties and think tanks in all four
countries.
Mostly at this point, from people on the right
side of the political spectrum, probably because
British conservatives have been the strongest
voice behind brexit and a CANZUK Union is
dependant on brexit actually happening…
But there have also been accusations of “imperial
nostalgia” and of racism, with the CANZUK
union consisting of only the “white” parts
of the british empire, while countries like
India, and South Africa are left out.
...But CANZUK International points out that
neither the UK, Canada, Australia or New Zealand
are “white countries” with all of them
having citizens of many different origins..
and that developing countries like South Africa
and India are excluded not because of race
but because they simply aren’t culturally
or economically compatible.
The general idea of “closer ties” between
the CANZUK nations has been endorsed by a
wide group of people, and it's not hard to
imagine that once Brexit is over and done
with, endorsing CANZUK would be much less
polarizing.
In fact, polling the general population shows
that a CANZUK Union has overwhelming support
in all four countries, ranging from 82% in
New Zealand to 68% in the UK.
Even in the french-speaking Canadian province
of Quebec, a place you wouldn’t expect to
be too fond of allying with the rest of the
english-speaking world, 63% of people are
in favor.
If and when Brexit does indeed happen, a CANZUK
Union sure looks like something that is entirely
possible.
But from what we’ve already seen with the
brexit process..
We can’t expect it to happen very fast..
It would probably be a tiresome and very gradual
process, carried out over a number of years…
Canzuk international has suggested that the
first step might be for the UK to join the
CPTPP, a trade agreement already in place
between the three other CANZUK nations and
a bunch of other countries, an idea that is
already being explored by the UK government.
This would, according to “CI” be the fastest
way for britain to start adapting for free
trade with the other CANZUK countries.
But let’s skip over all that and just assume
the CANZUK union does become a reality, what
would it look like and how would it compare
on the world’s stage?
The Union would be home to 134 million people
and would have an economy of 6.5 trillion
dollars, This would make them the fourth largest
economy in the world, behind the US, EU and
China.
...the CANZUK military would be nothing to
sneeze at either.
With a yearly military budget of a 101 billion
dollars, they would again rank number 4 after
the US, China and EU.
The CANZUK Combined Armed Forces would be
a medium-sized but highly trained military
with good equipment, and would have the capacity
to project power far beyond their borders.
They would also, of course, have the UK’s
famous nuclear submarines.
Where the CANZUK Union would really shine
though, is in raw land area.
Australia and Canada, two of the largest (and
most sparsely populated) countries on earth,
would make the CANZUK Union bigger than Russia.
BUT remember, CANZUK wouldn’t be a country,
and the ”Eurasian Economic Union”, a similar
arrangement Russia has with a few former Soviet
states, still beats CANZUK as the largest
economic union in the world.
But considering how spread out the CANZUK
nations are, it would still be the only economic
union “on which the sun never sets”
Now let’s talk demographics!
What would the population look like? (and
let me just say that this will be very rough
numbers as all four nations are really mediocre
at census-taking)
Just about half the population would reside
in the densely populated United Kingdom (As
well as in their overseas territories).
Meanwhile the gigantic landmasses of Canada
and Australia would be home to only 28 and
19% of the population respectively.
With the final 4% residing on the islands
of New Zealand.
There is definitely potential for some population
movement here…
If people are so inclined...
In terms of religion the largest group would
be Christians at 60% of the population.
Out of those, 37% would be protestants, 20%
catholics and 3% other christian or “christian
in general”
3% of CANZUK:ites would be Muslim while 4%
would belong to other religions, like Hinduism
and Judaism.
The remaining 33% would belong to no religion,
or would have refused to answer the question.
When it comes to ethnicity, roughly 76% of
the population would be of european descent,
while a sizable minority of 14% would hail
from the Asian continent.
4% would belong to the various indigenous
peoples of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
While about 3% would be of African origin.
The remaining 3% would identify as “other
or mixed”
..And finally, when it comes to language,
English would be the lingua franca for pretty
much everyone except the french-speaking portion
of Canada, whose citizens would make up about
5% of the total population.
All in all, the CANZUK Union is definitely
an interesting idea with very broad appeal,
whether or not a political and economic union
like this can exist without over time turning
gradually into a superstate is hard to say.
As well as if that is a good thing or a bad
thing...
...But now that you’ve hopefully learned
some more about it, what are you thoughts?
Do you think it should happen?
What are some problems and features we didn’t
mention here?
Is there a better name for it than “The
CANZUK Union” Comment down below!
If you enjoy our videos please consider subscribing
and clicking that little bell icon, that way
you’ll be sure to know when a new one has
come out.
You can also follow us on twitter for updates
on new videos, links in the description.
Thank you for watching!
