The Commonwealth of Nations - can it be more?

The thread about South Sudan in polchat got me thinking about the good old commonwealth; what sort of POD would there need to be to have the Commonwealth still full of independent nations, but with a lot closer ties economically and militarily? Could the Commonwealth ever become something akin to NATO, but encompassing mostly Britain, her ex-colonies and her allies? (Perhaps Portugal and Portugal's colonies could join too, like Mozambique did in OTL?).

What say you community of AH.com?

Edit: My own idea was that somehow WWI is averted, butterflying away a lot of the conflict over the 30s and 40s. Decolonisation occurs at a much slower pace and more supranational unions are created to keep the new nations stable and economically reliant on their mother countries.
 
It is completely possible. No WWI and/or WWII might be a way to do this. The issue probably is that in order for something like this to be created one needs some forward thinking British politicians to act before the locals get fed up with the UK. However, many conservatives, who would not want to let these colonies go, will refuse to act until it is too late. Think India and Pakistan in OTL. They finally get Dominion status and then dump it a few years later.
 
Top