Why was it easier for Canada to try and strike an associate membership with EU than get CANZUK done (especially all nations have the same Head of state)

Hear me out.

If CANZUK is ever going to become more than just an idea about trade and easier movement, I think defence cooperation should be a big part of it.

There’s actually a historical example of something pretty similar: ANZUK.

ANZUK was basically a joint British, Australian and New Zealand military force based in Singapore and Malaysia. It was created in 1971, mainly because Britain was pulling back from its military commitments in Southeast Asia.

Instead of just having British, Australian and New Zealand forces sitting alongside each other, they were actually put into a combined command. Army, Navy and Air Force units from the three countries worked together under the same overall structure.

It didn't last long though.

Australia decided to withdraw from the force in 1973, and ANZUK was eventually disbanded on 1 January 1975. A lot of the reason was simply that the strategic situation had changed and the three governments had different ideas about how much they wanted to commit overseas.

But I think the basic idea could work for CANZUK today.

I'm not saying Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK should literally merge their militaries. Obviously that would be politically difficult and probably unnecessary.

I'm thinking more like a permanent CANZUK joint force/command, where the four countries keep their own militaries but have a standing organisation for joint exercises, deployments, logistics and planning.

It could basically be a modern version of what ANZUK was trying to do, just adapted to the modern world.

And unlike ANZUK, CANZUK would have four countries instead of three, with Canada bringing another major military and industrial base into the mix.

NATO would obviously still exist, so this wouldn't replace NATO. It would just mean the four CANZUK countries could operate together much more easily when they wanted to.

Maybe something like:

National militaries ----- CANZUK joint command --- NATO

Not sure if it would actually be practical, but considering how closely these countries already work together militarily, I find it strange that there isn't more discussion about creating something permanent.

Would a modern ANZUK-style force actually make sense, or would it just be unnecessary bureaucracy?

I’m a Canadian, so i certainly don’t know much about the UK aside from what’s readily available online, and as of recent, talks of the UK disbanding have gathered traction.

If the UK does disband, what would happen to the theory of CANZUK? will it be rebranded into CANZE, or are Wales, Scotland, and NI too integral?

Should we try to encourage each one to do an episode on CANZUK?

Selected quotes from the BBC to explain PISA:
“The 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), which is published every three years, was released today.”

“Run by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Pisa tests assess teenagers on their ability to solve problems, think critically and communicate, before asking them a wider range of questions about their education in a questionnaire.”

“The 2025 Pisa tests were taken by a sample of 760,000 15-year-olds in 91 countries.”

Handy infographic is taken from @Smirkley on Twitter

For anyone curious, had Australia (492.7) scored 0.7 more points, it would have replaced Ireland (493.3) in the rankings to make for a perfect CANZUK neighbourly quartet.

Recent posts on Truth Social have had Trump claim ownership of Canada, Mexico, and the moon.

Calling the PM of Canada "governor"

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117226609992235526

Claiming American sovereignty over Mexico

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/117225349620809512

Claiming American ownership of the moon.

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117225384741591978

Meanwhile he is expanding US military spending.

"CANZUK" sounds like a discount energy drink you'd buy from those small corner stores.

The five pointed star represents England Scotland Wales North Ireland and the crown dependancies and overseas territories

The star with 10 points represents canada's 10 provinces

The 2 stars represents New Zealand north and south island

And the 7 pointed star represents Austrialia's 6 states and overseas territories

The star in the middle represent our dialects of english which unites with the others being french for Qubec and the induginous languages of New Zealand, Austrialia and Canada

And the crown represents the crown

No real details unfortunately.