A message from the Chair
Officially the centenary of The Round Table journal (started in the Edwardian era) does not start until 2010. But our preparations, as you can see from our website, are running on apace.
And I thought it would be good to provide a monthly update for readers and supporters of our journal, starting in July 2009 after my re-election for a final year as Chair of the editorial advisory board, (known since the early twentieth century as the Moot).
Richard Bourne
View the messages by selecting any of the links below:
January 2010
Is the Commonwealth, as Kamalesh Sharma has claimed, "A great global good"? This was the title of The Round Table's third centenary conference and, in a frank, no-nonsense discussion at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, the answer was "Maybe - but it could do better." Whereas The Round Table traditionally holds a short review conference on outcomes after a Commonwealth summit, this time it was taking a look at institutions and processes in a longer perspective.
The uncertainties were expressed in a variety of ways. A senior figure from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that he thought the current Commonwealth Secretariat was not fit for purpose. There was general agreement that the interaction between civil society and the Commonwealth summit -- whose communiqué preparation has the unlovely acronym of the COW, or Committee of the Whole -- is thoroughly unsatisfactory. Official communiqué draftsmen and the Commonwealth Peoples Forum pass like ships at night, never quite making a rendezvous.
Mr Sharma, as Commonwealth Secretary-General, spoke as an upbeat futurologist. But he pointed out the difficulties of staying relevant in a world of "permanent morphage" - where international relations change with IT usage, and new bodies, like the G20, appear at speed. An experienced UN and Commonwealth diplomat from the Bahamas pointed out that a Commonwealth agenda is not necessarily identical to an international agenda. The idea that democracy should be the signature issue for the Commonwealth over the next decade was not endorsed without amendment.
Stuart Mole, former Director-General of the Royal Commonwealth Society, organised the event with great skill, and the unobtrusive backing of the staff at Cumberland Lodge, which has a long-standing Commonwealth commitment. He hopes to write an article for The Round Table journal, based on the discussions. And The Round Table will draw on this, and anticipated conferences in Bangladesh and Australia, in presenting evidence to the new Eminent Persons Group which will be looking at the Commonwealth's future. In the corridors the suggestion was made that it could be led by an outsider, like Bill Clinton. That could be fun...
Richard Bourne