Four Decades of Commonwealth Secretariat and Foundation: Continuing Contributions to Global Governance?

Abstract

There is more than one ‘Commonwealth’. The formal organization of states, whose common interests are advanced by the Commonwealth Secretariat, has always been complemented by non-state Commonwealths—i.e. ‘networks’ that transcend national boundaries. This article seeks to put the summer 2005 anniversary of the formal establishment of the two, interrelated ‘sides’ of Marlborough House into the perspective of comparative analyses of ‘global governance’. It emphasizes the contemporary contributions of both inter- and non-state Commonwealths (plural) to global issues like development, governance, globalization and the development of small island states, and reminds us of their influence in the struggle to overthrow apartheid. It also notes the contribution of these Commonwealths to global civil society even ahead of the 1999 UN Global Compact. Just as the Commonwealth itself preceded the Secretariat, so several major Commonwealth-wide professional associations, like those of the lawyers/parliamentarians/universities, let alone the Games, preceded the Foundation. The article concludes by considering whether such contributions will sustain either or both the Secretariat and Foundation until their golden jubilee in 2015.

Keywords:

• Commonwealth
• multilateralism
• development
• good governance
• globalization