CANZUK International is the leading advocacy organization promoting closer ties between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, known amongst diplomats within the United Nations as the “CANZUK group”.
Our Mission: CANZUK International
The acronym CANZUK refers to the proposed economic/political union between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. CANZUK supporters either want a European Union (EU) style economic and political union with a central governing body or a loosely aligned economic union grounded on common ideas of liberal democracy, freedom and free trade coming together in a four nation common foreign policy. The union is based on the historical, cultural and legal ties the four nations share due the obvious connection from the British empire and current membership of the commonwealth of nations. With the UK’s 2016 decision to leave the EU, many politicians and activists have begun toying with the idea of a new union between CANZUK nations. This has brought CANZUK out of the small time arena of debate and into the mainstream spotlight. And with the rise in uncertainty in the global world with powers such as China exerting more power, a new global union such as CANZUK can be what the western world needs to combat this new threat.
The purpose of this blog will be to explain to the reader what CANZUK is wanting to be and what critics are saying about it. Whilst CANZUK is in its infancy the movement is growing, and due to CANZUK being a global idea the issues with the union are truly an international problem.
A third pillar of western style liberal democracy?…
CANZUK can be the opportunity for the UK to replace the EU, Canada to wean itself off of its reliance on trade with the USA and New Zealand/Australia to curb Chinese encroachment. It is with this in mind that CANZUK can be the third pillar of western style democracy, standing strong alongside the USA and the EU. The four CANZUK nations share many liberal/capitalist values, be it, promotion of free trade, protection of minority rights, constitutional monarchy, enshrinement of common law. With this in mind it is also obvious the connections that are key to a successful union are present here, however these four nations have another “ace up its sleeve”, the English language. The commonality in language will help the CANZUK nations in cross party discussions, any meeting seeking to set up a CANZUK in any form will be greatly aided by this fact. Something the EU has struggled with. These strengths put together will be the keys to a successful union in the future.
After the post World War II break up of the British empire the four main dominions of the empire have all gone separate paths. For some in these nations it has long been a dream to reforge these connections. However the UK’s EU membership stopped it from creating its own trade deals with other sovereign nations. With Brexit, CANZUK has stepped forward and has entered the public debate even more. Brexit will come up in any discussion on CANZUK, critics of CANZUK argue as Brexit was won by anti-immigration/racist arguments that attempts to create CANZUK are wanting to therefore have only have white immigration.
Source (CANZUK International twitter page)
CANZUK organisations may show the union having public support, but what are critics saying?
So… what are critics saying about CANZUK?
There are various sources we can use to CANZUK’s problems, the general media, academics and “the front page of the internet” Reddit. A few main criticisms arise from these sources. Now this is a big one… distance… CANZUK nations are 1000’s of kilometres apart (except NZ and Australia), nations trade more with other nations close-by, it is just logical as it cuts transporting time/costs. This is important especially for the UK because PM Boris Johnson wishes to import food goods from Australia. Examining this argument actually shows us a new occurrence in international politics, by CANZUK supporters wanting to do trade even further than our current single market (EU), this shows that new unions are breaking traditional international union rules, unionse with nations close by. The next issue is the issue of CANZUK being based on the four nations being white, Protestant and Anglo-Saxon. Opponents to CANZUK argue by picking these nations and not, say India, Ireland or South Africa that CANZUK is simply the dream of racist imperialists who wish to recreate the British empire. However, this argument is based on the assumption that CANZUK supporters are either white themselves or just simply racists. CANZUK nations as explained before have a lot in common, each nation does contain very large non-white populations. With Canada having 52% of the nations speaking English as a first language. Many CANZUK critics prefer the EU, however with Brexit the EU is going to get more white, so this argument has many flaws as one it relies on the assumption of the reasons white CANZUK supporters want the union and also does not take into account the multicultural nature of the CANZUK nations. To end this blog i’ll leave you with this quote by Anthony Bowman “…such a union would exist in contrast to the European Union and suggest that we are something other than European” this quote can show us one thing, that whilst CANZUK is based on “white European values” what CANZUK opponents don’t admit is CANZUK is seeking to be a new union, equal but separate from the EU. And this is where you, the reader, come in, do you believe that CANZUK is a racist glorification of the empire despite the multicultural nature of CANZUK nations or do you believe that CANZUK will be “the third pillar of western liberal democracy” despite the reliance on a share notion of a past which will overcome any hardship.
Concluding shortly…
CANZUK is an ambitions idea that can bring a new international organisation into the world stage. It would boast the fourth highest GDP/military spending budget meaning it can compete with the USA/EU and China. However where CANZUK is going wrong is that its supporters cant agree on what the union will look like… that is a big issue. This coupled with critics voicing concerns of racist undertones of the union means CANZUK as an idea has a long way to go. To end, one final note. With the USSR’s collapse and the victory of liberal democracies, CANZUK’s issues show that liberal democracies are infighting, the issues of international politics is not just apposing ideas but now those ideas are looking inwards for issues.
Bibliography
Seymour, D (2019) The time is ripe for a new partnership between the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Published in BrexitCentral April 27 2019. https://brexitcentral.com/the-time-is-ripe-for-a-new-partnership-between-the-uk-canada-australia-and-new-zealand/. [Accessed 08/10/2020].
CANZUK.org Homepage. https://www.canzuk.org/. [Accessed 07/10/2020].
Mcloughlin, B (2020) EU humiliation: Brussels forced to keep English as official language despite UK’s exit. Published in Express September 28 2020. https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1340961/Brexit-news-EU-News-English-language-french-Brussels. [Accessed 10/10/2020].
Ōmae, K & Ohma, K (1995) The End of the Nation State: The Rise of Regional Economies. Published by The Free Press. pp, 173 – 182.
Andreassen, T (2019) Could Brexit revive a British union beyond the seas?. https://www.forskningsdatabasen.dk/en/catalog/2449531485. [Accessed 05/10/2020].
Plumptre, A. F. W. “The Nature of Political and Economic Development in the British Dominions.” The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science / Revue Canadienne D’Economique Et De Science Politique 3, no. 4 (1937): 489-507. [Accessed 10/10/2020]. doi:10.2307/136567.
Bell, D & Vucetic, S (2019) Brexit, CANZUK, and the legacy of empire. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. [Accessed 09/10/2020]. doi:10.1177/1369148118819070
Friedman, T. Chinas New Power. IPS Journal. https://www.ips-journal.eu/in-focus/chinas-new-power/. [Accessed 09/10/2020].
CANZUK International (2020). Our Mission. https://www.canzukinternational.com/our-mission. [Accessed 09/10/2020].
CANZUK.co.uk, CANZUK by the numbers. https://www.canzuk.co.uk/by-the-numbers#. [Accessed 11/10/2020].
Reddit.com r/CANZUK. CANZUK in stats https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/64jk99/canzuk_in_stats/. [Accessed 09/10/2020].
York, C (2020) Boris Johnson ‘Waffling On’ About Australian Biscuits And Vegemite Sparks Strong Reactions. Huffington Post. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/boris-johnson-tim-tams-video_uk_5eea3c34c5b6a4bce77c2ec8. [Accessed 08/10/2020].
Reddit.com r/CANZUK. CANZUK: because South Africa 🇿🇦 is black, Ireland 🇮🇪 won’t have the Queen & India 🇮🇳 has too many brown people… Be real, this union is RACIST. https://www.reddit.com/r/CANZUK/comments/gtdby2/canzuk_because_south_africa_is_black_ireland_wont/. [Accessed/10/10/2020].
Rankin, J (2018) The EU is too white – and Brexit likely to make it worse, MEPs and staff say. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/29/eu-is-too-white-brexit-likely-to-make-it-worse. [Accessed 09/10/2020].
Reddit.com r/CANZUK. To anyone who thinks CANZUK is racist. https://www.reddit.com/r/CANZUK/comments/i6y7rx/to_anyone_who_thinks_canzuk_is_racist/. {Accessed 10/10/2020].
Bowman, A (2020) The problem with CANZUK. https://www.patrioticalternative.org.uk/problem_with_canzuk. Published in Patrioticalternative. [Accessed 11/10/2020].
Pholder. r/CANZUK. https://pholder.com/r/canzuk/.
Lewis Mackin
2521068
Word count: 1099
Tutor: Dr Clemens Hoffman