Review: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2009, the Commonwealth Yearbook 2009, the Contemporary Commonwealth <i>An Assessment</i>

COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2009 London: Henley Media Group, 2009. 196PP, /35.00 ISBN 978-0-9563722-3-9THE COMMONWEALTH YEARBOOK 2009 Cambridge: Nexus Strategie Partnerships, 2009. 686pp, /64.99 ISBN 978-0-9549629-9-9THE CONTEMPORARY COMMONWEALTH An Assessment 1965-2009 James MayaU, editor Abingdon: Routledge for Round Table, 2010. 230PP, /75.00 ISBN 978-0-41548277-6Together this trio of new analyses about commonwealths provides insights not only into their continuing development but also into contours of contemporary governance. This year's centenary of Round Table, now The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs but originally A Quarterly Review of Politics of British Empire, is symptomatic of nonstate, transnational genesis of leading networks: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association turns 100 in 2011, as does Association of Commonwealth Universities in 2013. As global governance becomes ever more ubiquitous and diverse, we need to recognize novel sources of analyses and catalysts. Despite their somewhat dated image, commonwealths, in part because of their relative unimportance, are in vanguard of identifying and addressing emergent global issues.Only one of three books under review is a traditional academic collection. The Contemporary Commonwealth celebrates Round Table's centenary as oldest journal of international relations, at least in Anglophone world. The other pair are recent issues of regular annual or biennial glossy coUections published by up-market commercial presses, funded by institutional advertising. The largest, at almost 700 pages (including 114 pages of fuU-colour ads), is Yearbook from Commonwealth Secretariat, and smaller, at just under 200 pages (but 61 pages of advertising), is for biennial Commonwealth summit. In their individual statements and corporate ads, these two books display extensive reach of commonwealth plus, ostensibly celebrating its 60th year, in myriad partnerships across multiple sectors, including communications, education, and services.Following sometimes controversial yet ultimately successful Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October 2010, next major Commonwealth event is heads-of-govemment meeting to be held in Perth in October 2011. My institute of international relations was pleased to be associated with some ofthe nonstate features ofthe last such meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in November 2009, such as people's forum organized by Commonwealth Foundation. And we were proud to host biennial Round Table seminar and dinner in wings, where academic coUection edited by James MayaU was launched and discussed. On its 99th birthday, Round Table honoured second secretary-general ofthe Commonwealth, Sonny Ramphal from Guyana, who in his talk discussed whether Ireland could yet rejoin Commonwealth family foUowing India's lead on latter' s adoption of republican status.The Mayall collection of a dozen original chapters provides an informed assessment of Commonwealth performance, from establishment of both secretariat and foundation in 1965. The essays cover commonwealths' own evolution, institutions, and leadership; their relations through foundation and business coundl with nonstate actors, especiaUy civu society and private sector, respectively; and their distinctive connections and contributions in several regions in which they operate: Africa, Asia, Canada and Caribbean, Europe, and Pacific. The title also includes an invaluable three-page annotated bibliographical note by Terry Barringer.In terms of understanding and advancing global governance, most salient and best informed chapters are by Richard Bourne on civu society and Ron Sanders on smaU, especially Caribbean, states. Bourne reflects on development of Commonwealth norms beyond formal democracy towards human rights, noting that the [Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative] story also iUustrates potential for friction between unofficial and official Commonwealth, between an association of governments and an association of peoples (130). …

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