The international system is rapidly changing. Not only are the superpowers now in a period of full blown strategic competition, but the global hegemon is undergoing a profound political evolution. With the re-election of Donald Trump, and the entrenchment of Trumpism within the American political landscape, the fundamental principles which have underpinned U.S. foreign policy are being seriously challenged.

For one half of the American political divide liberal internationalism is dead. Its America first, not the ascendency of the free world which is the core driver of Washington's approach to the world. This is having a profound impact on many American allies. Canada is now facing the prospect of highly punitive economic policies by its major trading partner, just one element in the largest bout of protectionism we have seen in a generation. Not only is globalization now dead, at least as we once knew it, but the Trump administration is very clearly signaling to the world that the US led global alliance framework which has underpinned western security for decades is unsustainable. At base, with the election of Trump, the American people are clearly saying that they are no longer willing to subsidies western security, especially in Europe.

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We may we be seeing the last days of the North Atlantic alliance, and although it may persist in some form, clearly the western alliance is undergoing profound change. For the European powers, the path forward appears to be relatively clear. An economic and demographic superpower, European already has the military potential to once again re-emerge as a great power, one which could not provide its own security, but compete with China and the United States across the full spectrum of national power. But what about the other western powers, those of the anglosphere? Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are four nations who have, for the majority of their history, been allied to one another. These are some of the most similar nations on earth, four natural allies which have been driven apart by the tides of history, powerful centrifugal forces which drove the anglosphere's fragmentation.

Well, those tides may be beginning to turn. CANZUK is an acronym for a proposed economic, diplomatic and strategic alignment or union of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Although the idea gained some popularity after Brexit, perhaps now is the time to take the proposal more seriously. But what kind of actor would this geopolitical alliance be? If these four nations began acting collectively, would they constitute a Great Power? Could this be the path forward for these extremely similar countries, nations that are united by a common language, history, culture, system of government and values in these most challenging times?