THE COMMONWEALTH – A SMART POWER

THE COMMONWEALTH – A SMART POWER

According to Andrew Dorman, the United Kingdom has three foreign policy priorities: North America, Europe and the Commonwealth.  He argues that the balance between these three priorities has shifted over time and leadership of the Commonwealth is one way Britain justifies its own position.

“Britain has no vision where it is going as a ‘post-middle-sized power’ … British values are changing as the country becomes more globalised and there is a loss of confidence.  Britain feels the need to justify its role on the world stage”.  (Dorman cited in ICD, 2010, p5).

As Head of the Commonwealth, the Queen’s Jubilee will be celebrated in all Commonwealth countries.  The Commonwealth comprises more than 54 countries, the majority of whom are former colonies of Britain. Having previously conquered these countries using hard power to colonise them, Britain now uses soft power to keep them under its wings.  As former colonies of Britain, the Commonwealth ‘family’ share a history, common heritage in language, culture law, education and democratic traditions, among many other things. 

Britain’s cultural and public diplomacy is carried out through the various organisations of the Commonwealth, which include the Commonwealth Secretariat which serves as an intergovernmental consultation enabling member governments to collaborate to influence world events. and setting up programmes carried out bilaterally.  The Royal Commonwealth Society is an international education charity which promotes international understanding across the Commonwealth especially among young people. The Association of Commonwealth universities is one of the largest international inter-university networks in the world commitment to staff and student mobility and institution building throughout the Commonwealth.  The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation whose mandate is to strengthen civil society to enhance development and democracy in the Commonwealth.  The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental organisation established by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1988 to encourage the development and sharing of open learning and distant education knowledge, resources and technologies. The Commonwealth Games are held once very fours years.

BIBILIOGRAPHY:

1. Association of Commonwealth Universities: www.acu.ac.uk
2. Commonwealth Games Federation: http://www.thecgf.com/about/role.asp
3. Commonwealth of Nations:  http://www.commonwealth-of-nations.org/The-Commonwealth-History,4,3,1 accessed 30 April 2012
4. Commonwealth of Nations:  http://www.commonwealth-of-nations.org/Directory-of-Organisations-Commonwealth-Foundation,61,49,1
5. Commonwealth of Nations: http://www.commonwealth-of-nations.org/Directory-of-Organisations-Commowealth-Secretariat,60,48,1
6. Commonwealth of Nations: http://www.commonwealth-of-nations.org/The-Commonwealth-Introduction,2,2,1 accessed 30 April 2012
7. Commonwealth of Nations: http://www.commonwealth-of-nations.org/Directory-of-Organisations-Association-of-Commonwealth-Universities,64,52,1
8. Head of the Commonwealth: http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth/
9. The Commonwealth Foundation: http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com
10. The Commonwealth of Learning: http://www.col.org
11. The Commonwealth Secretariat: www.thecommonwealth.org
12. The Commonwealth: http://www.thecommonwealth.org/subhomepage/174739/commonwealth_family/
13. The Royal Commonwealth Society: http://www.rcsint.org