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Who Needs the Commonwealth?

[ Posted On: 2007-11-25 ]

The Biennial Commonwealth Summit takes place in Kampala, Uganda November 22-24 amidst the usual controversies that have surrounded these summits whose importance in a world in which Britain is nothing more than post imperial middle power whose claims to global leadership is no more on its imperial past but toadying to the US (one of its former colonies!).

The association of the organisation with British colonialism has always been difficult for many radical anti colonialists to accept. However, it is significant that apart from the USA that never joined most of Britain's former colonies chose to join after their independence even countries with radical nationalists and militant anti imperialist governments like Nkrumah's Ghana or Ghandi's India. Instead of leaving the organisation what has happened is that countries in Africa with tenuous or no direct links to British colonialism like Mozambique, Namibia, and the Cameroon have either joined or have some associate membership. Rwanda's application to join since 1996 may get full approval at the Kampala summit.

The justification has always been that though these countries were forcibly colonised by Britain, that experience has led to a number of shared institutions, official language that could be the bases for technical, political, economic, cultural and diplomatic interface that goes beyond Britain.

The Commonwealth, in typical British pragmatism, has been adjusting to the changing fortunes of Britain as a declining imperial power. It has evolved from White British Commonwealth, through British Commonwealth, to now simply, The Commonwealth. It has grown from being simply an adjunct to British diplomatic and political interests into an organisation where former colonies can and do strike back and isolate Britain on many issues.

Under Margaret Thatcher and her belligerent position in cosying up to Ian Smith (who incidentally died on, Wednesday November 21) and his 'internal settlement' in 1979 and her ignoble support for the apartheid regime, the British government could not get the support of the majority of the members of the Commonwealth.

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Indeed, in spite of British support, apartheid South Africa was expelled from the organisation and only resumed membership after the country was liberated from Thatcher's friends. To the right wing politicians and their media hirelings in Britain the Commonwealth is an anti-British, organisation therefore they query why Britain had to be providing the large support it gives towards running it.

The Commonwealth has also provided a means for the cheapest form of diplomacy for many poor countries and statelets to also fly their flags. In these countries, the Commonwealth's development cooperation, technical support and cultural exchanges are very crucial in providing capacity building on skills to the nationals and their governments. In these countries, the Commonwealth performs much needed and therefore appreciated tasks that the best of UN system wide support do in many countries.

However, these technical works of the Commonwealth whether through education grants, training for different kinds of professionals, supporting judiciary, etc do not make headlines. One reason is that they are very modest. The other and more important is that the politics of the organisation is what interests most people. It is just like the way many people unfairly write off the UN because of their frustrations with the opportunistic power play in the Security Council.

The focus on Commonwealth politics is not a misplaced one though they need to be tempered with due regard to other useful tasks it performs. In many cases, I think there is an exaggerated expectation of what the Commonwealth can achieve. It is a talking shop with no real enforcement powers beyond expulsion of erring members. And that option has been rarely used.

Zimbabwe withdrew before it could be expelled. But the exit of Zimbabwe has not diminished the controversy around the conflicts in the country within the Commonwealth. It continues to divide the organization with perceptible clear racial lines that pithches the majority members against the old White Commonwealth members (namely, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and their mother country, Britain).

They take a more hectoring line on Zimbabwe while the African, Caribbean and Asian countries tend to be more conciliatory towards Mugabe. The British simply do not have any moral or political right to lecture anyone about Zimbabwe. Their own inconsistencies also make them vulnerable to charges of multiple standards. The Zimbabwe conflict is parallel to Pakistan's and the way Britain has been responding to Pakistan's General Perves Musharav is different from the way they talk to or about Zimbabwe. Why is what is good for the goose is suddenly not good for the gander?

Although British hypocrisy does not mean that President Mugabe is right to be beating up his opponents and muscling the media, it gives his apologists ammunition to clobber opponents as agents of British colonialism and makes it even more difficult for Africans and African leaders in particular to be openly too critical of Uncle Bob and the excesses of his regime.

I thought Gordon Brown was more strategic and smarter than his predecessor, Blair, and would not be as sanctimonious as him but he has proven to be same, same. His threat not to attend the Africa-EU summit in Lisbon next month if Mugabe was invited has isolated him. He will soon discover as Blair did not just in Africa but also in the Commonwealth where even Britain needs friends. Even if the wealth has never been common!

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem -- is the deputy director of the UN Millennium Campaign in Africa. Contact him at: editor[at]pambazuka.org

| View Profile & All Articles By: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem |

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