Brexit, CANZUK, and the Legacy of Empire

Abstract

A number of prominent Brexit supporters have endorsed the idea of CANZUK, a union (or alliance or pact) of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. They claim that since these countries already have so much in common and because they are already bound together by a dense web of security commitments, it is viable to create a globe-spanning zone of free movement of goods, services, and labour. Some argue that these initial steps should be followed by deeper integration, even the creation of a transcontinental (con)federal polity. In this paper we analyse CANZUK as an attempt to develop a fruitful post-Brexit imaginary and as a case of contemporary transnational elite advocacy. We show that the argumentative moves, institutional prescriptions, and rhetorical strategies, of CANZUK advocacy echo those of late Victorian and Edwardian imperial enthusiasts to a remarkable degree. We suggest that CANZUK cannot escape its historical origins: the empire continues to exert a powerful magnetic pull.