No two nations in the world are as integrated, economically and socially, as are the United States and Canada. We share geography, values and the largest unprotected border in the world. Regardless of this close friendship, our two countries are on a slow-motion collision course-with each other and with the rest of the world. While we wrestle with internal political gridlock and fiscal challenges and clash over border problems, the economies of the larger world change and flourish. Emerging economies sailed through the meltdown of 2008. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that by 2018, China's economy will be bigger than that of the United States; when combined with India, Japan and the four Asian Tigers-South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong-China's economy will be bigger than that of the G8 (minus Japan).
Rather than continuing on this road to mutual decline, our two nations should chart a new course. Bestselling author Diane Francis proposes a simple and obvious solution: What if the United States and Canada merged into one country? The most audacious initiative since the Louisiana Purchase would solve the biggest problems each country expects to face: the U.S.'s national security threats and declining living standards; and Canada's difficulty controlling and developing its huge land mass stemming from a lack of capital, workers, technology and military might. Merger of the Century builds both a strong political argument and a compelling business case, treating our two countries not only as sovereign entities but as merging companies.
We stand on the cusp of a new world order. Together, by marshalling resources and combining efforts, Canada and America have a greater chance of succeeding. As separate nations, the future is in much greater doubt indeed.

Diane Francis is an American-Canadian award-winning columnist, bestselling author, journalist, broadcaster and entrepreneur. She is the Editor-at-Large at the National Post, a blogger with Huffington Post and a Distinguished Professor at Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management. She is an expert on geopolitics, business and white collar crime. Her direct and forceful writing and speaking style make her a sought-after speaker and columnist who can describe the personalities, trends and geopolitics that affect companies, individuals, governments and societies around the world.

Diane has written nine books on white collar crime, politics, Immigration, economics and finance, including the bestseller, Who Owns Canada Now: Old Money, New Money and the Future of Canadian Business. Her 10th book, also an e-book in all formats, will be published worldwide by Harper Collins Canada and Harper 360 on October 1, 2013. Diane has blogged for The Huffington Post since 2007, is a seasoned television and radio guest/commentator and has been a columnist for Maclean’s Magazine, The Toronto Star, New York Sun, the National/Financial Post and Toronto Sun Newspapers. She was a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy and has been a Media Fellow and participant at the World Economic Forum in Davos for 20 years. In 2013, she was a media advisor at Silicon Valley’s Singularity University in Mountain View California.

Diane has interviewed, and written about, hundreds of CEOs, billionaires, heads of state, international criminals, Interpol officials, thinkers and academics. These include Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Bill Gates, George Soros, Carlos Salinas, Christine Lagarde, Pervez Musharraf, Angel Gurria, Raghuram Rajan, Larry Summers, Clayton Christensen and dozens more. She has also been able to observe and interview the world’s political and thought leaders for 20 years at the World Economic Forum.

She has traveled and covered major news events: the fall of the Berlin Wall; the dismantling of the Soviet Union; the restructuring of the former Soviet satellite nations; the reunification of Germany; the enfranchisement of blacks and election of Nelson Mandela in South Africa; the independence of Ukraine then its Orange Revolution; the events and elections leading to free trade and NAFTA; the corrupt elections and the 1994 assassination of Presidential candidate Colosio in Mexico; the 1994 Chiapas rebellion in Mexico by Mayans including an interview in the jungle with its guerrilla leader, Subcommandante Marcos; the dangers and dreams of Mexicans and their smugglers crossing “el bordo” illegally from Tijuana to San Diego; the battle in Colombia against cocaine smugglers; the Quebec referendum battle in 1995 on separation from Canada; how the world’s biggest boiler room stock fraud took place out of Amsterdam and how the world’s biggest gold swindle, Bre-X, was pulled off in Calgary, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Diane currently divides her time between Toronto and New York City.

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