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Rishi Sunak gives the go-ahead for the UK to re-join the EU’s €95.5 billion Horizon science program
https://twitter.com/BBCAmos/status/1699432689588199732
Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2023-09-07 07:10:26)
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Interesting.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hgGB8oYbq6s
The CANZUK idea would be a global partnership of four nations on trade and national security. It wouldn't have been possible before BREXIT, because EU rules do not allow individual members their own trade policy. Compared to the EU and NAFTA, CANZUK would probably allow greater individual national autonomy. I cannot for example see London or Cambera objecting to Canada pursuing a specific military technology that they are interested in. But members would pool resources in developing technologies that would be too expensive for any individual nation.
This arrangement is clearly very different to the pre WW2 concept of the British empire. The dominions have fully developed economies now with populations approaching the UK. The UK is simply too small an economy to replace the US as security guarantor. It makes more sense now to develop this as an equal partnership of nations. Whilst Australia, UK and New Zealand are all much smaller economies than the US, a CANZUK deal can at least offer more dignified trade terms to Canada than what they get from the US. They wouldn't require Canadians to sell their sole just for the opportunity to do business with them. If it came down to a straight choice between the two, that would be important. But my guess is that Canada would want membership of both. It is a question of whether the US would allow that.
CANZUK would have enough money and a big enough tax base, to support a superpower military against the threat presented by China. Probably only about half the manpower of the US military overall, but more heavily skewed towards naval power. In terms of navy, it could be a peer partner to the US, which would substantially increase NATO capabilities. The downside is that that navy needs to support 4 nations at different corners of the Earth. That will spread it more thinly.
Last edited by Calliban (2024-03-06 12:01:05)
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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The trade policies of the second Trump administration may be a window of opportunity for a new beginning.
https://youtu.be/zB2MEgzmA0M
There are obvious problems with the CANZUK alliance, not least of which is the need to find a catchier name for it. Logistics is the key problem. The members would be seperated by vast oceans. That is a natural barrier to trade. One issue that the video raises is that CANZUK already exists in most important respects. Canada, UK and Australia already cooperate on military projects. There is already trade between them and cultural affiliation.
Perhaps the biggest barrier is leftwing politics. All four countries are run by entrenched leftwing, globalist parties. CANZUK would largely be based on ethnic kinship. Something that leftwing parties have always done their best to marginalise. The recent elections in Canada and Australia, both returned leftwing governments as part of a temper tantrum against Trumpian politics. Ironically, this will make it more difficult for both countries to do anything proactive to improve their situations.
Last edited by Calliban (2025-05-28 23:08:41)
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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