The Commonwealth at 60: Thoughts from the Old and New Generations
Posted by AlexT - 09/09/09 at 04:09 pm
Sir Peter Marshall, former Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General, and Zoe Ware, from the Royal Commonwealth Society, give two differing perspectives on the Commonwealth at 60 from their respective generations in the October 2009 issue of The Round Table, The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs.
Sir Peter’s article starts the debate:
“The London Declaration of 26 April 1949, made by Commonwealth Prime Ministers, was an act of statesmanship of rare insight and imagination, as was its approval by King George VI. It paved the way for the emergence of a voluntary forward- and outward-looking association of sovereign, independent governments and peoples, alive to their common values and traditions, and concious of the contribution they can together bring to making the world a better place. The Commonwealth is an international asset as well as a boon to its members”.
Zoe’s article, written from the perspective of the new generation, comes at the 60th birthday from a different angle:
“The Commonwealth must pay particular attention to creating a positive first impression on young people, so that it can be defined through the relevance of its current actions rather than through history books. In a crowded international marketplace, the Commonwealth must identify a Unique Selling Point that will be of long-term value to its members, and prove that it can do things and reach places that other international associations cannot. Its shared commitments and values give the Commonwealth the potential to be a true voice of moral authority on the world stage. Yet until the Commonwealth can truly be defined by its Harare principles, rather than with reference to the historical bonds that originally threw it together, it will struggle to transcend the inaccurate image which young people hold of it. The article concludes by looking forward to the global challenges, questions of membership and expansion, and the sensitive issue of Headship that the Commonwealth will be faced with before its 100th birthday.”
Read both articles for free using the links below, and let us know what you think.
Sir Peter Marshall, The Commonwealth at 60, The Round Table, Vol. 98, No. 404, 535-546, October 2009
Category : Connecting with Young People, The Commonwealth's Relevance, homepage items
Tags: 60th birthday, CHOGM, future, membership, new generation, Queen, values
Stay Updated : 
RSS 2.0 feed.
September 24th, 2009 at 10:50 am
?The Commonwealth must pay particular attention to creating a positive first impression on young people, so that it can be defined through the relevance of its current actions rather than through history books.”
I think this is key. People think of empire, and old people loving the Queen.
The question is, how can it sell itself to young people?
A computer game? A Commonwealth ipod? I jest. But am lost for any other ideas.
September 24th, 2009 at 11:28 am
It’s all about profile and finding something to market. You can not market a friendly club to the public.
September 24th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
I fully agree with the view that the Commonwealth must “pay particular attention to creating a positive first impression on young people”. As a UK national my first impression of the Commonwealth of Nations was gained as a teenager and it was of conferences and meetings, on the BBC, attempting to address political problems amoungst its members. It looked boring and distant. However, when I found out more about the Commonwealth I found it to be a wealth of connections and networks amoungst a very diverse group of people all trying to do positive things for its people. Many of its member countries would not meet in any other world forum outside the UN. My first impression was therefore quite wrong. However I still feel, as I did before, that we do not ‘work’ together as much as we could and a bond between people established, beyond the historical.
I think the Commonwealth must be in a position expose itself to ALL young people in its member countries. I think it should establish a far more prominant role in education to encourage the youth in all countries to make their’s and other parts of the commonwealth a better place.
Of course, this is not all the commonwealth needs to do. On the wider issues of first impressions, the commonwealth must address its poor level of recognition in developed countries, such as the UK and Australia. It needs the youth in these countries to ‘work’ with the others, especially the small and developing nations. Establishing short-term, safe and easy travel between commonwealth nations, through formal commonwealth hubs, would be one plave start.
October 5th, 2009 at 8:34 am
I am delighted to see such interest being generated from the emphasis placed upon the Commonwealth of Nations by the Commonwealth Conversation, sponsored by the RCS.
In the nationally representative opinion polls commissioned by the RCS and held in seven Commonwealth countries, including Australia, results indicated that Australians did not show as much enthusiasm for the commonwealth as respondents in countries such as India, Malaysia and South Africa.
I strongly suspect that the Commonwealth as a topic is not particularly popular simply because people know little about it. The Commonwealth Conversation is extremely useful in assisting to promulgate knowledge and interest in the Commonwealth of Nations.
The Western Australia Branch of the RCS has begun to work against that ignorance by promoting a project which will incorporate presentations about the Commonwealth made by Year 10 students of Morley Senior High School during 4th term of the Australian School Year, October to December 2009. This pilot project will, if successful, be promoted to other schools in 2010 to ensure that our Youth continues to focus on and be aware of the work of the Commonwealth of Nations.
It is entirely appropriate for this 60th year of the Commonwealth, where the theme is ?The Commonwealth @ 60: Serving a New Generation?.
Your comments would be welcome.