CANZUK

CANZUK
A map highlighting CANZUK and its dependencies.   CANZUK   Dependencies of CANZUK countries
Type	Personal Union (current status) Proposed international organization/common market area
Membership	Australia  Canada  New Zealand  United Kingdom
Area
• Total	18,187,210 km2 (7,022,120 sq mi)
• Water (%)	1.0%
Population
• 2017/2018 estimate	133,193,029
• Density	7.2/km2 (18.6/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	2018 estimate
• Total	$6.456 trillion
• Per capita	$45,919

CANZUK refers to the personal union and the proposal for increased ties between the nations of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. These include increased trade, foreign policy co-operation and mobility of citizens between the four nations. The idea is supported by various organisations and think tanks, such as CANZUK International and politicians from the four countries.

Definition

The term CANZUK was first coined by the author William David McIntyre in his 1967 book Colonies Into Commonwealth in the context of a "CANZUK Union", as an acronym for Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.^[1] More recently, the term has been adopted by the pressure group CANZUK International, formerly the Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organisation.^[2] In the wake of the 2016 UK European Union membership referendum and the decision made by the UK to leave the European Union, writers such as Andrew Lilico and James C. Bennett, along with academics such as the historian Andrew Roberts have advocated that Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom merge and form a new entity in international politics.^[3][4] Andrew Roberts suggested that such a bloc could slot into the international order as a third pillar of the west (alongside the United States and the European Union). Beyond this, Roberts argues that due to its territorial scale, geographic scope and advanced economy that it would qualify as a "great power" and potentially a "global power" (or emerging superpower).^[5]

Some advocates such as Roberts favour a federal or confederal union. Others, such as Lilico describe the objective as being the creation of a "geopolitical partnership" akin to the European Economic Community.^[6] In the version favoured by Lilico, by the advocacy group CANZUK international and by the Canadian Conservative Party, the proposal would involve the creation of a free-movement zone, a multilateral free trade agreement and a security partnership. The more general concept of deepening trade ties (with or without a multilateral agreement) has many advocates, including figures such as former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott,^[7] Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau^[8] and British Prime Minister Theresa May.^[9] Other supporters of easier immigration have included Boris Johnson who has made that case for some years.^[10]

Origins and relationship

A world map showing the distribution of people by self-reported British ancestral or ethnic diaspora.
Legend:

Greater than 55%   50-55%   45-50%   40-45%   35-40%   30-35%   25-30%   20-25%   15-20%   10-15%   Less than 10%

Canada, Australia and New Zealand are former colonies of the British Empire where people of British ethnic origin came to constitute the majority of the population.^[11] Today, the four CANZUK countries maintain a close affinity of cultural, diplomatic and military ties to one another as a result of this. Outside of the United Kingdom and its Overseas Territories, the largest proportions of people of self-identified ethnic British descent in the world are found in New Zealand (58%),^[12] Australia (43%)^[13] and Canada (32%),^[14] followed by a considerably smaller minority in the United States (12%).^[15] In homage to this, the Australian and New Zealand flags contain the flag of the United Kingdom in their canton, and the UK flag is one of two official flags of Canada.

Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are also Commonwealth countries which share Elizabeth II as constitutional monarch and head of state. The countries share a number of institutional, linguistic and religious similarities such as the use of the Westminster parliamentary system of government, Common Law, British English terminology and the adoption of secular Christian values.^[16] The CANZUK countries form part of the English-speaking world and share a number of Anglosphere military initiatives with each other including Five Eyes intelligence, ABCANZ Armies and AUSCANNZUKUS, which are concerned with increased military and naval cooperation. Canada and the United Kingdom are allied through the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation while Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are allied through the Five Power Defence Arrangements.

Public relations are extremely warm between the four countries, with consistent evidence that people in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom regard each other's countries as their country's closest friends and allies in the world.^{[17][18][19][20]}

Statistics

Below is a table comparing the CANZUK countries. Data is for 2017.

Country	Population[21]	Land area (km2)[22]	Land area (sq mi)	PPP GDP (billions USD)[23]	PPP GDP per capita (USD)	National Wealth (billions USD)[24]	National Wealth per capita (USD)	Human Development Index (2018)[25]
United Kingdom	7007661815850000000♠66,181,585	241,930	93,410	$2,880.254	$43,520	$14,073	$212,642	0.920 (very high)
Canada	7007366241990000000♠36,624,199	9,993,510	3,858,520	$1,763.785	$48,159	$7,407	$202,243	0.926 (very high)
Australia	7007244505610000000♠24,450,561	7,682,300	2,966,200	$1,235.297	$50,522	$7,329	$299,748	0.939 (very high)
New Zealand	7006482517000000000♠4,825,170	263,310	101,660	$185.748	$38,496	$1,162	$240,821	0.917 (very high)
Total	7008132081515000000♠132,081,515	7007181810500000000♠18,181,050	7007107379470000000♠10,737,947	$6065.084	$45,919	$29,971	$226,913	0.925 (very high)
Total as % of World	1.7%	7%	7%	4.8%		10.7%

Advocates

Several organisations have been set up that promote, to varying degrees, much closer associations between the CANZUK nations. CANZUK International has, as its stated aim, the desire to establish an area of freedom of movement akin to that which existed before the European Communities Act 1972, or as a mirror to the rights of free movement as seen within the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement.^[26] Other organisations are largely voluntary groupings of those who advocate the more specific idea of transnational union, such as "CANZUK Uniting".^[27]

Contrary views

Although the UK is in the process of leaving the EU, trade agreements between the UK and other CANZUK countries are not legally credible until the UK's departure.^[38]

Critics such as Nick Cohen have suggested that CANZUK is a 'fantasy' and that the project would not make sense as a geopolitical construct in the 21st Century, here he emphasises the gradual separation that has occurred between each of the states in both legal and political culture since the end of the British Empire.^[39] It has been argued that geographical separation limits the value of any such union, in keeping with the mainstream economic opinion that considers the 'distance and the size of trading partners matter more than historical links in determining trading relationships between countries'.^[40]

An editorial in Canada's The Globe and Mail, which described CANZUK as "a silly name", pointed out that those Commonwealth countries with which advocates of Brexit were most enamoured were "ex-Dominions where white people predominate", and that even if it were broadened to include populous countries like Nigeria and India, the group had "nowhere near the latent appetite for trade with Britain that would make the scheme credible".^[41]

In academia, Duncan Bell criticises contemporary 'Anglospheric discourse' and concludes that modern political commentary is 'a pale imitation of previous iterations' lacking broad spectrum support across the political left-right dichotomy.^[42]

Public opinion

See also

• Anglosphere
• British Empire
• Imperial Federation
• JUSCANZ
• Regionalism (international relations)
• Supranational union

References