The form and content of the Commonwealth are changing.
The growing interest in the economic role of an organisation whose
members include some of the most dynamic economies in Asia and
Africa coincides with the election of a Secretary General from
As...
Twenty prime ministers and sixteen presidents
were present at the Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala,
Uganda, on 23-25 November. Many Commonwealth states have
non-executive heads of state or even governors general, who formally
represent Q...
Rwanda became a virtual member of the Commonwealth at
its 23-25 November summit in Kampala, partly due to President
Yoweri Museveni's energetic support for visiting President
Paul Kagame and the pair's determination to show their
bilateral problems ha...
The Commonwealth summit last week provided an unrivalled opportunity
for local monarchists to promote their own political agenda through
unabashed adoration of Britain's octogenarian sovereign,
portrayed in local newspapers as the world's greatest fash...
Choosing a new secretary general, acting on Zimbabwe, admitting
extra members and the probable appearance of several fresh leaders
will keep the commentators busy at November's Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting
In Kampala, all eyes will be on Gordon Brown, by then
British Prime Minister for four and a half months. The
new Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, David Miliband,
and the Minister for Africa, Mark Malloch Brown (straight
from Kofi Annan's team at th...
The Commonwealth's next chief executive will take over in April
2008 and there are three strong candidates for the secretary general's
job: Kamalesh Sharma, Indian High Commissioner in
London; Michael Frendo, Foreign Minister of Malta;
and Mohan Kaul,...
Secretary General Don McKinnon's lobbying for trade
reform at the Commonwealth summit in Malta (25-27 November)
produced waves in the European Union, which he challenged to meet
the United States' offer of farm subsidy cuts.
Poor diplomacy allows the Zimbabwe row to weaken the Commonwealth and divide Africa
The Commonwealth, some say, is held together by its rows over Southern Africa. The latest, a rumoured move against giving New Zealand's Don McKinnon a second term as Secretary General, was later said to be a Zimbabwean plot. The story suggested African ho...
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