Democracy Archives - Commonwealth Oral History Project

Interview with Sir John Major

by evanamusoke | Oct 14, 2018 | Apartheid, Brexit, CHOGM, Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), Decolonisation, Democracy, Diplomacy, Elections, European Economic Community, European Union, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Human Rights, India, Malaysia, Queen, South Africa, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Major, John. 1943-. Born in UK. Member of Parliament (Conservative Party), 1979-2001. Parliamentary Private Secretary, 1981. Under-Secretary of State for Social Security in 1985. Minister of State for Social Security, 1986....

Witness Seminar – Britain in the Commonwealth: The 1997 Edinburgh Commonwealth heads of Government meeting

by evanamusoke | Oct 13, 2018 | Apartheid, CHOGM, Civil Society, Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), Commonwealth Secretariat, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Elections, Eminent Persons Group, European Economic Community, European Union, Good Governance, Human Rights, India, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Technical Assistance, Trade and Investment, United Kingdom

This Witness Seminar, Britain in the Commonwealth: The 1997 Edinburgh Commonwealth took place at Marlborough House, London, on Monday, 19th March 2018. Download full Witness Seminar Transcript. Session participants: Amitav Banerji then Deputy Conference Secretary,...

Interview with Abdul Minty

by nicholaszuniga | May 4, 2017 | Apartheid, Civil Society, Constitutional Change, Decolonisation, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Environment, European Economic Community, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Human Rights, NATO, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Nuclear, Race, South Africa, Trade and Investment, United Kingdom, United Nations

Download the transcript (12 Feb 2013) Biography – Abdul Minty. Born South Africa, 1939. Graduate University College London. Appointed the Honorary Secretary of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) 1962-1995. He played an important role in lobbying the...

Interview with Billie Miller

by nicholaszuniga | May 4, 2017 | Barbados, CARICOM, Civil Society, Constitutional Change, Decolonisation, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Education, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Gender, Human Rights, Jamaica, Judiciary, Law, Reflections, Small States, Trade and Investment, Trade Unions, Trinidad and Tobago

Download the transcript (12 Jan 2015) Biography – Dame Billie Miller was educated at Queen’s College in Barbados, King’s College, Durham University and the Council of Legal Education in England. She was the coordinator of CARICOM ministerial spokespersons with...

Interview with Kamalesh Sharma

by evanamusoke | Apr 28, 2017 | CHOGM, Civil Society, Climate Change, Commonwealth Foundation, Commonwealth Institute, Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), Commonwealth Secretariat, Constitutional Change, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Education, Elections, Eminent Persons Group, Environment, Good Governance, Human Rights, India, Maldives, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Queen, Small States, Sri Lanka, Technical Assistance, Trade and Investment, United Nations

Download Interview Transcripts: Part One (9 March 2016) and Part Two (29 March 2016) Biography: Sharma, Kamalesh. 1941-. Born in India. Educated at St Stephen’s College, Delhi and University of Cambridge. Indian Foreign Service, 1965-2001. India’s Permanent...

Witness Seminar – The Commonwealth Secretariat, Economics and Development, and Global Politics

by evanamusoke | Jan 6, 2017 | Australia, CHOGM, Civil Society, Commonwealth Foundation, Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), Commonwealth Secretariat, Constitutional Change, Decolonisation, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Education, Elections, Fiji, Human Rights, India, Media, Mozambique, New Zealand, Queen, Small States, South Africa, United Kingdom, United Nations, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

The Witness Seminar was held on 24th March 2014 at the Australian National University in Canberra. Download Witness Seminar. Programme Session 1: The Commonwealth Secretariat Session 2: The Commonwealth, Economics and Development Session 3: The Commonwealth in Global...

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Definitioner

David McDowell

David McDowell (b.1937) is a New Zealand diplomat who served as Special Assistant to the Commonwealth Secretary General Arnold Smith from 1969 to 1972. McDowell was later New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India, Nepal and Bangladesh (1983-85) and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1985-88). From 1994 to 1999 he was Director-General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Richard Bourne

Richard Bourne (b.1940) is a British journalist, writer and human rights advocate who has acted as Deputy Director of the Commonwealth Institute (1983-89), Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (1990-92) and Head of the Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit (1999-2005). He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Secretary of the Ramphal Institute, and was a correspondent for The Guardian and deputy editor of the London Evening Standard.

Pera Wells

Pera Wells is an Australian diplomat who established the Human Rights Unit in the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1985. She had previously worked on human rights issues with the United Nations in New York and set up the Human Rights Section of Australia’s Foreign Affairs department in 1984. Wells was later Secretary General of the World Federation of United Nations Associations (2006-09) and Vice President of the Australian Council for Human Rights Education (2010- ).

Simon Murdoch

Simon Murdoch (b.1948) is a New Zealand-born diplomat and civil servant who served as Chief Executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from 1991 to 1998. He had previously been Foreign Affairs advisor to Robert Muldoon in the 1980s, and Head of the Prime Minister’s Policy Advisory Group, 1989-91.

Hugh Craft

Dr Nickless Hugh Craft is an Australian diplomat who served as Director of the International Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, from 1979 to 1988. He was subsequently the Senior Executive of Environment Australia (1992-99) and member of the Department of the Australian Prime Minister and Cabinet (1999-2002).

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) is an international, non-governmental organisation established in 1987 to support the implementation of the Harare Declaration in the Commonwealth of Nations. It provides thematic human rights reports to every Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. In 1993, its headquarters moved from London to New Delhi, India.

Royal Commonwealth Society

The Royal Commonwealth Society is an international educational charity based in London, functioning additionally as a private members’ club. Its main aim is to facilitate the exchange of ideas on public affairs in an international frame, and it supports and promotes the modern Commonwealth of Nations. It was founded in 1868 as the Colonial Society.

Peter Williams

Dr Peter Williams joined the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1984, serving first as Director of Education and then as Director of the Human Resource Development Division. He later served as Joint Deputy Executive Chair of the Council for Education in the Commonwealth and as Secretary of the Commonwealth Consortium for Education.

Stan Mudenge

Isaak Stanislaus Gorerazvo Mudenge (1941-2012) was a Zimbabwean political figure who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2005 under the presidency of Robert Mugabe. From 2005 until his death in 2012, Mudenge was Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education in Zimbabwe.

Matthew Neuhaus

Matthew Neuhaus is a career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Australia, and was appointed Australian Ambassador to Zimbabwe in 2011. From 2002 to 2008 he served as Director of the Political Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, and was Assistant Secretary and Head of the CHOGM Policy Task Force in Australia.

DFID (Department for International Development)

The Department for International Development (DFID) is the British government department in charge of administering overseas aid, defining its object as the elimination of world poverty and the promotion of sustainable development.

Political Affairs Division

The Political Affairs Division (PAD) is the section of the Commonwealth Secretariat that coordinates activities between the Commonwealth, its member country governments and partner international organisations. It focuses its work on the prevention or resolution of political conflict at the invitation of a member country, and also supports the development of democratic processes and institutions.

Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau

The Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International (CABI) is an international, not-for-profit organisation focused on problems of agricultural development and the environment. It was established in 1910 and today includes 48 member countries, with projects ongoing in more than 70. CABI specialises in commodities, invasive species and scientific communication.

CABI (Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau)

Asian financial crisis

The 1997 Asian financial crisis was a period of economic collapse following the much-celebrated ‘Asian economic miracle’ of the late 1980s and 1990s. The crisis was provoked by the collapse of the Thai bhat due to severe financial overextension and a real estate bubble, triggering a chain reaction across South East Asia of slumping currencies, devalued stock markets and the withdrawal of foreign capital. Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia and the Philippines were among the most affected countries.

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is an international sporting event that takes place every four years and brings together athletes from across the Commonwealth of Nations. It began in 1930 as the British Empire Games, and is overseen today by the Commonwealth Games Federation.

Marlborough House

Marlborough House is a 17^th century mansion in the City of Westminster, central London, which has served as the headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat since 1953.

William Heseltine

Sir William Heseltine, b.1930 in Australia, was Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II from 1986 to 1990.

Jon Sheppard

Jon Sheppard was the Director of Political Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat from 1996 to 2002. He has served as Australian Ambassador to Ethiopia (1985-89), Jordan (1992-95) and Zimbabwe (2004-07).

Stuart Mole

Stuart Mole is a British political figure who joined the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1984 as Special Assistant to the Secretary-General. He was Director of the Secretary-General’s Office from 1990 to 2000, and Director-General of the Royal Commonwealth Society from 2000 to 2009.

Vishnu Persaud

Dr Bishnodat ‘Vishnu’ Persaud, b.1933 in Guyana, served the Commonwealth Secretariat from 1974 to 1992, acting as Director and Head of the Economic Division from 1981. He lectured at the University of the West Indies from 1992-1996 and later became a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Committee on Development Policy and the UN Expert Group on the Vulnerability of Small States.

CHOGRM

Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meetings (CHOGRMs) had their origins in a series of talks between the Australian and Indian Governments under the Prime Minsisters Malcolm Fraser, Moraji Desai, and Indira Gandhi.

Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd, b.1957, was twice Prime Minister of Australia (2007-10, 2013), leading a Labor Party government. He has also acted as Minister for Foreign Affairs (2010-12) under the leadership of Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Gerald Hensley

Gerald Hensley, b.1935. Former New Zealand diplomat who served as Special Assistant to the Commonwealth Secretary General when the Secretariat was established in 1965. He later served various positions under the Robert Muldoon and David Lange governments in New Zealand, including Secretary of Defense. In 2000, Hensley chaired the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group in its work in Papua New Guinea.

Troika

Refers to incumbent, previous, and next Chairpersons-in-Office of the Commonwealth, who, after the 2002 CHOGM, met to try to resolve the dispute over Zimbabwe’s membership of the Commonwealth.

Ratu Mara

Sir Kamisese Mara (1920-2004). Fijian politician. He was Prime Minister of Fiji, 1970-92. Though defeated in the election of 1987, he headed an interim administration following a military coup, until 1992. He was then President of Fiji, 1993-2000.

Pacific Islands Forum

The Pacific Islands Forum is an inter-governmental organization. Founded in 1971 as the South Pacific Forum, it aims to enhance cooperation between the countries of the Pacific Ocean.

APEC

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established in 1989 and is a forum seeking to promote free trade and economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Tony Eggleton

Anthony Eggleton (b. 1932). He was Director of Information at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, 1971-74 and later became Federal Director of the Liberal Party of Australia.

G-8 (G8)

The Group of Eight (G8) was a forum for the governments of the eight leading industrialised countries of the world. It began in 1975 as the G6, and the following year became the G7 with the addition of Canada. From 1998 to 2014 it became the G8, reverting to being the G7 with the suspension of Russia as of March 2014.

Clare Short

Clare Short (b. 1946). British politician and member of the Labour Party. She was Secretary of State for International Development, 1997-2003.

Timoci Bavadra

Timoci Bavadra (1934-89). Fijian politician and founder of the Fijian Labour Party. He was Prime Minister, April 1987-May 1987, before being ousted by a coup led by Sitiveni Rabuka.

Max Gaylard

Maxwell Gaylard (b. 1946). Australian diplomat. He was Director of Political/International Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London in the 1990s.

Lomé Convention

The Lomé Convention is a trade and aid agreement between the European Community and the African, Caribean and Pacific countries. It was signed in February 1975, and came into force in April 1976.

Andrew Peacock

Andrew Peacock (b. 1939). Australian politician. Member of the Liberal Party, which he led 1983-85 and 1989-90.

Jeremy Pope

Jeremy Pope (1938-2012). New Zealand-born activist. In 1980 he was appointed director of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division. In 1993 he co-founded the anti-corruption organisation Transparency International.

WTO

The World Trade Organization. International organisation that aims to manage and organise liberalisation of international trade. Established in 1995, the WTO replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade signed in 1947

World Bank

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. An international institution, founded in 1944, that funds development projects

United Nations. Major international organisation, founded in 1945.

UDI

Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Rhodesia’s 1965 declaration of independence without British agreement, intended to preserve white minority rule.

Pierre Trudeau

Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000). Canadian politician and Prime Minister (1968-1979, 1980-1984).

Kris Srinivasan

Khrishnan Srinivasan (b.1937). Indian politician and diplomat, Foreign Secretary (1994-1995), Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General (1995-2002).

Sri Lankan Civil War

A civil war between the government of Sri Lanka and Tamil insurgents, fought intermittently from 1983 to 2009.

Spinola

Antonio de Spinola (1910-1996). Portuguese military officer and politician, served as President of Portugal from May-September 1974.

South Pacific Forum

The South Pacific Forum was an international organisation formed in 1971 to facilitate cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean. In 1999, it was renamed the Pacific Islands Forum.

soft power

A concept used to explain an emphasis on a attracting and co-opting power as opposed to coercive or forceful power.

Mario Soares

Mario Soares (b. 1924). Portuguese politician, Prime Minister (1976-1978, 1983-1985) and President (1986-1996).

Arnold Smith

Arnold Smith (1915 –1994). Canadian diplomat, the first Commonwealth Secretary-General (1965–1975).

Sonny Ramphal (Shridath Ramphal)

Shridath Surendranath 'Sonny' Ramphal (b. 1928). Guyanese politician, second Commonwealth Secretary-General (1975-1990).

Sitiveni Rabuka

Sitiveni Rabuka (b. 1948). Fijian soldier, led to military coups in 1987, and later elected Prime Minister (1992-1999).

Rabuka (Sitiveni Rabuka)

Sitiveni Rabuka (b. 1948). Fijian soldier, led to military coups in 1987, and later elected Prime Minister (1992-1999).

Non-aligned movement

An international organisation of countries that are not aligned with any manjor world power, founded in 1961.

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. A military alliance formed in 1949, originally to defend Western Europe from the Soviet Union.

Robert Muldoon

Sir Robert Muldoon (1921-1992). New Zealand politician and member of the National party. He was Prime Minister, 1975-84.

Robert Mugabe

Robert Mugabe (b.1924). Zimbabwean resistance leader and politician. Served as Prime Minister (1980-1987) and President (1987-) of Zimbabwe.

Don McKinnon

Sir Donald McKinnon (b. 1939) is a New Zealand politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister for the National Party (1990-96), Foreign Minister (1990-99) and Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations (2000-08).

Thabo Mbeki

Thabo Mbeki (b.1942). South African politician. He has served as an African National Congress negotiator in the 1980s and 1990s, and as South African Deputy President (1994-1999) and President (1999-2008).

Peter Marshall

Peter Marshall (b. 1946). British diplomat, Deputy Secretary General (Economic & Social) Commonwealth Secretariat from 1983 to 1989.

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela (b. 1918). South African anti-apartheid campaigner and politician, served as South Africa’s first post-apartheid President (1994-1999).

Moni Malhoutra (Manmohan Malhoutra)

Manmohan Malhoutra (b. 1937). Indian diplomat, served in the Secretariat of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from 1966 to 1973 then joined the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, in 1974, to run the International Affairs Division.

Samora Machel

Samora Machel (1933-1996). Mozambican soldier and politician, served as President (1975-1986).

David Lange

David Lange (1942-2005). New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party. He was Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1984-89.

Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger (b. 1923). American diplomat and politician.

Michael Kirby

Michael Kirby (b.1939) is an Australian jurist who served as a Justice on the High Court of Australia between 1996 and 2009. He was President of the International Commission of Jurists (1995-98) and from 2009 to 2011 was a member of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group.

IMF

International Monetary Fund. Created in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference, the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF's original aim was to stabilise exchange rates and aid national reconstruction after the end of the Second World War.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

John Howard

John Howard (b.1939). Prime Minister of Australia (1996-2007).

Bob Hawke

Bob Hawke (b. 1929). Australian Prime Minister (1983-1991).

Harare Declaration

The Harare Commonwealth Declaration of 1991 set out the Commonwealth's principles and values, including membership criteria. Click here to read the Declaration in full.

FRELIMO

FRELIMO (Mozambique Liberation Front) was formed in 1962 as a Mozambican liberation movement. Since independence in 1975 it has been the ruling political party in Mozambique.

Malcolm Fraser

Malcolm Fraser (b. 1930). Prime Minister of Australia (1975-1983). Fraser also served as Co-Chairman of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group on South Africa.

Gareth Evans

Gareth Evans (b. 1944). Australian politician, Foreign Minister from 1988 to 1966.

European Union. International organisation of European states. Known as the European Economic Community before 1993.

EEC

European Economic Community. An international organisation of European states, founded in 1957. Renamed the European Union in 1993.

EPG

Eminent Persons Group. A group of well-known individuals chosen by the Commonwealth to research a specific issue. The 1985 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting appointed an EPG to report on apartheid in South Africa, published in 1986 as Mission to South Africa. A second EPG was appointed in 2009 and tasked to produce a report on Commonwealth reform for 2011.

Commonwealth Secretariat

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the principal inter-governmental body of the Commonwealth, responsible for promoting cooperation between members. Founded in 1965.

ComSec (Commonwealth Secretariat)

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the principal inter-governmental body of the Commonwealth, responsible for promoting cooperation between members. Founded in 1965.

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

A Commonwealth organisation that promotes good governance. Founded in 1911 as the Empire Parliamentary Association, and renamed in 1948.

CMAG

Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. Established by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1995, the CMAG upholds the terms of the Harare Declaration.

Commonwealth Foundation

The Commonwealth Foundation is a Commonwealth organisation founded in 1965 to promote the growth of professional organisations and exchange of skills, and now pursuing a broader developmental agenda.

Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation

The Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) is an organisation administered by the Commonwealth Secretariat that delivers technical assistance to Commonwealth member countries. A mutual and voluntary fund, it was established in 1971.

CFTC (Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation)

Commonwealth Day

The second Monday in March, marked by a multi-faith service in Westminster Abbey and a message delivered by Elizabeth II.

Cold War

A period of ideological tension from around 1945 to 1991 between capitalist nations led by the USA and communist nations led by the USSR.

CHOGM

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Every two years Commonwealth heads of government meet to discuss global and Commonwealth issues, with the aim of promoting common initiatives.

Prince of Wales (Prince Charles)

Prince Charles (b. 1948). Heir to the throne of the UK and the other territories for which the British monarch is also Head of State.

Carnation Revolution

Portuguese revolution in 1974 that toppled the dictatorial government, bringing democracy.

CARICOM

Caribbean Community. In 1972, Commonwealth Caribbean leaders at the Seventh Heads of Government Conference agreed to transform the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) into a Common Market and establish the Caribbean Community, of which the Common Market would be an integral part. The treaty establishing the Caribbean Community was signed at Chaguaramas on 4 July 1973.

Apartheid

A system of legally enforced racial segregation implemented and upheld by the National Party in South Africa from 1948 – 1994

Emeka Anyaoku

Emeka Anyaoku (b. 1933). Nigerian diplomat. Served as Head of the Commonwealth International Affairs Division (1973-1977), Assistant Secretary General (1977-1979); Deputy Secretary General (1979-1991); Secretary General (1991-2001).

ANC

African National Congress. A South African political party, founded in 1912, that opposed apartheid and has been South Africa’s governing party since 1994.

ABC countries

Within the Commonwealth, Australia, Britain and Canada.

Mrs Thatcher (Margaret Thatcher)

Margaret Thatcher (1926-2013). British politician and Prime Minister (1979-1990).

Interview with Sir John Major

Witness Seminar – Britain in the Commonwealth: The 1997 Edinburgh Commonwealth heads of Government meeting

Interview with Abdul Minty

Interview with Billie Miller

Interview with Kamalesh Sharma

Witness Seminar – The Commonwealth Secretariat, Economics and Development, and Global Politics

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