Why This Project? We are in a time of stress, change and uncertainty. The postwar order and its alliances, norms, and assumptions are under great stress. The President of the United States talks seriously of pressuring Canada into becoming the Fifty-First State of the USA. If that is on the table, perhaps other ideas once though too radical may now seem to be more moderate alternatives. Ten years ago I published a short book examining an idea that most considered unlikely at best. It described the idea of a confederal network of the four Crown Commonwealth nations, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, or “CANZUK” for short. It attracted modest attention in the four CANZUK nations, but it did start some conversations. Weaker forms of the idea, such as multilateral free trade agreements and defence structures, gained somewhat wider attention, and have begun to pop up in the manifestos of various CANZUK parties. As the world grows more uncertain rather than less, interest in options is growing. The basic idea in my 2016 book, A Time for Audacity is, overall, more relevant than ever, but the changes in the world have been so vast that it requires a substantial reworking. That is why I am launching this project.

Who Am I? My name is James Bennett. I have spent most of my working life in the commercial space launch industry, and in that role I have served on advisory bodies in the US and UK on the topics of space regulation. More broadly, t have written extensively on the more general topics of technology, society, politics, and culture. Two decades ago, I published a book titled The Anglosphere Challenge (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004), which served to introduce both the term and the concepts behind it to the broader political and cultural spheres of the English-speaking world, and beyond. A decade and a half ago I co-authored a book titled America 3.0 (Encounter Books , 2013) with writer and commentator Michael Lotus, which concentrated more closely on future developments in the USA and elsewhere

In 2016 I published an e-book titled A Time For Audacity, (which you see in the cover photo above.) which introduced the CANZUK Federation idea. It cited the growth of decentralized business linked by the internet, and the transition in warfare to Information Age tools such as small Loe-Earth orbit satellites for communications and reconnaissance, and especially uncrewed aerial and maritime systems for reconnaissance and weapons. The original edition was published prior to the Brexit referendum, and a slightly updates version was released after the vote, but before the exit was actually accomplishedAfter a decade of world developments, events have in my opinion validated many of the predictions and assumptions of A Time for Audacity

These have included

• The rise of populist nationalism as a force, especially in the USA in the form

of the new America First movement,

• the dissent within NATO and the European Union as to how to handle the Russian invasion of the Ukraine,

• the increased pressure by the USA for Europeans and the Indo-Pacific nations to contribute more to collective security;

• the collapse of the assumptions of non-invasion and restraint of nuclear threats,

• the unpredictable challenge of AI,

All of these have affected the assumptions of the book, and none are adequately addressed, particularly in the current text I continue to believe that the core of the book’s argument is valid, and needed even more than ever. The idea of Canada and the other CANZUK nations entering a state union seemed utterly far-fetched in the world of 2016; today the President of the United States speaks repeatedly and off-handedly of making Canada s state of the USA. Shouldn’t there at least be a comparison table showing the status quo, American statehood, and CANZUK membership as options, compared on an apples-to-apples basis? An updated edition of A Time for Audacity would certainly want to have such, among other things.

For these reasons, and many more, I have decided to undertake a substantial revision and updating of the book. It may appear under a new title; I am considering Fifty-First State? Or The CANZUK Option. This should be doable relatively quickly, unlike other of my projects which require substantial research. Since I am an independent consultant and writer, I have no stipend or grant to create time for the project, and post importantly the post-publication publicity, which was unfortunately minimal for Time for Audacity. For that reason I am launching a GoFundMe campaign to support the writing, publication and promotion of the work. Your support, in any amount, will be welcome, and will entitle you to occasional author’s updates on the work. To be clear, this is not a fundraiser for a charitable effort. It is to support the writing, editing, and promotion of a book on current events, and funds will be used by the author for that purpose.

Please donate to the support of the CANZUK Book Project, and pleas repost this appeal on your social media. Your support would be most appreciated.

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