The commonwealth and the Cold War, neutralism, and non-alignment

International History Review

Volumn 37, Issue 5, 2015, Pages 1059-1082

  Onslow, Sue ^a  

^a LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Commonwealth; Development; Neutralism; Non alignment; Ramphal

Indexed keywords

EID: 84954239696     PISSN: 07075332     EISSN: 19496540     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/07075332.2015.1053965     Document Type: Article

References (173)

1. See P. Lyon, Neutralism (Leicester, 1963)
2. and 'Neutralism, Development and the Rise of the Third World' in A. Best, J. Hanhimaki, J. Maiolo, and K. Shulze, International History in the Twentieth Century (London, 2013);
3. see also A. Acharya and B. Buzan, 'Why is There no Non-Western International Relations Theory? An Introduction', International Relations of the Asia-Pacific 3 (2007) 287-312.
4. The Commonwealth has largely been overlooked by International Relations specialists, although reasonably well served by historians: see W. D. McIntyre, The Commonwealth of Nations: Origins and Impact 1869-1971 (University of Minnesota Press, 1978);
5. M. Doxey, The Commonwealth Secretariat and the Contemporary Commonwealth (London, 1989);
6. W. D. McIntyre, The Significance of the Commonwealth 1965-1990 (Basingstoke, 1991);
7. W. D. McIntyre, 'Britain and the Creation of the Commonwealth Secretariat', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 28, 1 (2000) 135-158;
8. McIntyre, 'Canada and the Creation of the Commonwealth Secretariat, 1965', International Journal 53, 4 (1998) 753-777;
9. T. M. Shaw, 'Globalization, Anti-Globalization and the Commonwealth', The Round Table 92, 369 (2003) 235-248, considers the evolution of the Commonwealth from 'the old Club' to a new rules-based international association, underpinned by the shift in the Commonwealth's deliberations.
10. K. Srinivasan, The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth (Basingstoke, 2006)
11. and W. D. McIntyre, S. Mole, L. M. Ashworth and T. M. Shaw, 'Whose Commonwealth? Responses to Krishnan Srinivasan's The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth', The Round Table 96, 388, (2007) 57-70;
12. S. R. Ashton, 'British Government Perspectives on the Commonwealth, 1964-1971: An Asset or Liability?', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 35, 1 (2007) 73-94;
13. S. R. Ashton, 'British Government Perspectives on the Commonwealth, 1964-1971: an Asset or a Liability?', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (2007) makes reference to the Commonwealth as an idea, a movement, or an organisation.
14. See also S. R. Ashton and W. R. Louis (eds), British Documents on End of Empire, Series A Volume 5 East of Suez and the Commonwealth 1964-1971, Part II Europe, Rhodesia, Commonwealth, (London, 2004) documents on British analysis of the value of the Commonwealth.
15. McIntyre, 'The Unofficial Commonwealth Relations Conferences 1933-1959, Precursors of the Trisector Commonwealth', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 36, 4 (2008) 591-614 explores the width and depth of the Commonwealth's non-political manifestations.
16. A. Smith, Stitches in Time. The Commonwealth in World Politics (London, 1981);
17. E. Anyaoku, The Inside Story of the Modern Commonwealth (Ibadan, 2004);
18. D. McKinnon, In the Ring (London, 2012);
19. S. Ramphal, Glimpses of a Global Life (Hansib Press, 2014).
20. See www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
21. S. Onslow, 'Zimbabwe: Land and the Lancaster House Settlement', British Scholar, 2, 1 (2009) 40-74;
22. Ramphal, Glimpses.
23. R. F. Botha interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org. Archbishop Desmond Tutu also credited Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for having played a critical role in bringing effective pressure to bear on the National Party government in South Africa.
24. See J. Mayall, The Commonwealth, 21
25. and R. Renwick, A Journey with Margaret Thatcher (London, 2012).
26. K. Srinivasan, The Rise, Decline and Future of the Commonwealth (Basingstoke, 2008). The former Director of Political Affairs Division, Matthew Neuhaus, robustly disagrees with this interpretation of the lack of the Commonwealth's importance in international affairs.
27. Matthew Neuhaus interviews with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhisto ries.org.
28. The Commonwealth is indeed proof that post-colonialism extends to international relations, but which rejects the designation 'subaltern'. See for example, P. Childs and R. J. P. Williams, An Introduction to Post-Colonial Theory (London, 2014).
29. Sir Shridath Ramphal interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org;
30. Ramphal, Glimpses;
31. Doxey, The Commonwealth Secretariat.
32. Lyon, Neutralism.
33. Chief Emeka Anyaoku (Secretary-General 1990-2000) interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
34. Lyon, Neutralism, 20.
35. M. Fraser, The Political Memoirs (Carlton, 2010), 466.
36. Former British Foreign Secretary Lord Owen, in his opening address at the conference, 'Rhodesian UDI: 40 Years On' (London School of Economics, January 2006), remarked that Rhodesian UDI was not a Cold War issue. In contrast, the Rhodesian Front government and the South African government did regard the struggle between the white minority government and radical black nationalist movements as a 'front line in the Cold War in Southern Africa'.
37. Brian Oliver (Rhodesian civil servant, and member of Rhodesian Military Intelligence) interview with Sue Onslow, 7 March 2008.
38. Flora MacDonald (Canadian Foreign Minister 1978-80) interview with Sue Onslow, 27 March 2013.
39. and International Cooperation for Development. (Taken from Com. Sec Archive 2011/247 conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs at Non-Aligned meeting, Belgrade July 1978.)
40. Sir Roger Carrick (former British High Commissioner to Australia) interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
41. Alan Rowley in conversation with Sue Onslow, 9 July 1995.
42. Sir Peter Marshall (Deputy Secretary-General (Economic)) interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
43. R. M. Irwin, Gordian Knot: Apartheid and the Unmaking of the Liberal World Order (New York, 2013).
44. See D. McKinnon, In the Ring.
45. Quoted in W. D. McIntyre, 'Commonwealth Legacy' in Brown and Louis (eds), The Oxford History of the British Empire. The Twentieth Century (Oxford, 1999), 699.
46. Smith, Stitches in Time;
47. Anyaoku, The Inside Story of the Modern Commonwealth;
48. Srinivasan, The Rise, Decline and Future of the Commonwealth;
49. McKinnon, In the Ring;
50. Ramphal, Glimpses.
51. Sir Peter Marshall, Deputy Secretary-General (Economic) 1983-88, interview with Sue Onslowwww.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
52. See McIntyre, 'Commonwealth Legacy', 696.
53. Proposed in CR (48) 2, 21 May 1948, CAB 134/118;
54. promulgated in Foreign Office Circular 7, 28 Jan. 1949, D[ominions] O[ffice] 35/2255
55. quoted in McIntyre, 'Commonwealth Legacy', 696.
56. The National Archives, (TNA) PREM 11/2219 Record of the Final Session of the Annual Conference of the Commissioner-General, South East Asia, 19 Jan. 1958. Note by Brook, 20 Jan. 1958.
57. R. Hyam and P. Henshaw, The Lion and the Springbok: Britain and South Africa since the Boer War (Cambridge, 2003).
58. M. Doxey, The Commonwealth Secretariat and the contemporary Commonwealth (Basingstoke, 1989), 3.
59. Smith, Stitches in Time.
60. M. Doxey, 'The Commonwealth Secretary General: The Limits of Leadership', International Affairs, lv, no. 1(1979), 67-83.
61. K. Hossain, Bangladesh Quest for Freedom and Justice (Dhaka, 2013), 184-9
62. and Dr Kamal Hossain to Sue Onslow, 13 May 2015.
63. See Doxey, The Commonwealth Secretariat.
64. L. Lloyd, Diplomacy with a Difference: the Commonwealth Office of High Commissioner, 1880-2006 (Boston, 2007).
65. The Margaret Thatcher Foundation archive is a remarkable testament to Mrs Thatcher's preparation and involvement in Commonwealth heads of government (CHOGM) meetings between 1979-89. Confirmed by Sir Peter Marshall, in private correspondence with Sir Sonny Ramphal. Available at www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
66. See Mission to South Africa: The Commonwealth Report - The Findings of the Eminent Persons Group on Southern Africa (Harmondsworth, 1986);
67. see also R. F. 'Pik' Botha (former South African Foreign Minister 1977-94) interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
68. Vulnerability. Small States in the Global Society (1985) http://www.thecommonwealth-ili brary.org/commonwealth/economics/vulnerability-9781848593985-en
69. S. Mole, 'From Smith to Sharma: Role of the Secretary General' in J. Mayall (ed), The Contemporary Commonwealth. An Assessment 1965-2009 (London, 2010), 11-12.
70. Sir Robert Muldoon to Arnold Smith, repeated in Smith, Stitches in Time.
71. The choice of Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) venue was carefully considered and consciously political in the Ramphal era. Sir Shridath Ramphal interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistsories.org
72. Doxey, The Commonwealth Secretariat.
73. See also Institute of Commonwealth Studies Witness Seminar: The History of the Commonwealth Secretariat 1965-2010 and Stuart Mole (former Director, Office of the Secretary-General) interview with Sue Onslow www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
74. Doxey, The Commonwealth Secretariat.
75. Commonwealth Secretariat Archives, Minutes of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers meeting, London, 17 June 1965, 23.
76. Com. Sec Archives, Minutes of Heads of Government meeting, London, 17 June 1965.
77. Com. Sec Archives, Minutes of Heads of Government Meeting, London September 1966. The coup in Ghana which overthrew President Kwame Nkrumah was the death blow to this Commonwealth mediation mission.
78. Gerald Hensley (former Special Adviser to Secretary General Arnold Smith 1966-1969) interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
79. Anna Konieczna unpublished PhD thesis, 'France and South Africa' (Sciences Po, Paris, 2013).
80. Chief Emeka Anyaoku interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org;
81. and Arnold Smith papers, Canadian National Archives and Library.
82. Gerald Hensley interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
83. Arnold Smith papers, Canadian National Archives and Library.
84. See also Smith: Stitches in Time;
85. Chief Emeka Anyaoku interview with Sue Onslow;
86. David McDowell and Dr Kamal interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
87. Chief Emeka Anyaoku interview with Sue Onslow.
88. See also Smith: Stitches in Time;
89. Arnold Smith papers Canadian National Library and Archives.
90. Chief Emeka Anyaoku interview with Sue Onslow.
91. See Commonwealth Secretariat Archives, Commonwealth Fund for Mozambique: Origins and Establishment; Policy and Administration
92. Chief Emeka Anyaoku interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
93. See also Smith, Stitches in Time.
94. Richard Bourne (Former journalist at the Guardian, and head, the Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit) interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
95. Lee Kuan Yew, The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore, 1998).
96. P. Trudeau, Memoirs (Toronto, 1993).
97. P. J. Patterson (former Jamaican Prime Minister) interview with Sue Onslow, www.com monwealthoralhistories.org.
98. Patsy Robertson, former Director Information Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, in conversation with Sue Onslow.
99. Canada National Archives and Library, Arnold Smith Papers: Julius Nyerere, Commonwealth Prime Ministers 1965, Thursday 1 June 1965.
100. Fraser, Political Memoirs, 490.
101. Clyde Sanger interview with Sue Onslow, 28 March 2013;
102. Patsy Robertson, Witness Seminar on the History of the Commonwealth Secretariat, www.commonwealthoralhis tories.org
103. Fraser, Political Memoirs, 494.
104. Derek Ingram in conversation with Sue Onslow, 7 Nov. 2012.
105. Keith Somerville (former BBC World and BBC Monitoring Service)
106. and Richard Bourne interviews with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
107. See also R. Bourne, News on a Knife Edge: Gemini Story (Luton, 1995).
108. Derek Ingram to Sue Onslow.
109. Stuart Mole interview with Sue Onslow, Joe Clark (former Canadian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister) interview with Sue Onslow;
110. R. F. Botha interview, with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
111. See also ICWS Witness Seminar: Negotiating with Apartheid, available on www.commonwealth.sas.ac.uk.
112. Sir Peter Marshall letter to Sir Sonny Ramphal, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
113. Fraser, Political Memoirs.
114. B. Hawke, The Hawke Memoirs (London, 1994), 316, 318.
115. Moses Anafu interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
116. http://www.sharing.org/information-centre/reports/brandt-report-summary.
117. http://conspect.nl/pdf/Our-Common-Future-Brundtland-Report-1987.pdf.
118. British Diplomatic Oral History Project (BDOHP) Churchill College, Cambridge: Sir Len Allison interview.
119. Joe Clark interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
120. Michael Frendo (Maltese Foreign Minister) interview with Sue Onslow, www.common wealthoralhistories.org.
121. Interviews with Sir Peter Marshall and Stuart Mole.
122. Anti Apartheid Movement papers, the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
123. Michael Fathers to Sue Onslow.
124. Mayall, The Commonwealth, 18.
125. The Secretariat provided financial support and advice to the ZAPU and ZANU delegations throughout the Geneva Conference in 1976, as well as behind the scenes at Lancaster House in 1979.
126. Chief Emeka Anyaoku interview with Sue Onslow.
127. See also Onslow, 'Zimbabwe: Land and the Lancaster House Settlement', British Scholar (September 2009).
128. Sir Shridath Ramphal interview with Sue Onslow and Ramphal, Glimpses.
129. See also interviews of Sir Peter Marshall, Indrajit Coomaraswamy, and Dr Bishnodat Persaud discussion paper, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
130. Sir Shridath Ramphal and Gerald Hensley interviews with Sue Onslow, www.common wealthoralhistories.org;
131. Doxey, The Commonwealth Secretariat;
132. Ramphal, Glimpses.
133. Anthony Ellman, Witness Seminar: A History of the Commonwealth Secretariat (June 2013) interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
134. See The Bandung Conference Final Declaration;
135. Gerald Hensley interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
136. Moses Anafu interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
137. See an extensive note by the Commonwealth Secretariat, available at Commonwealth Archives, File 2011/247 conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs at Non-Aligned meeting, Belgrade July 1978.
138. N. Bayne, 'The Commonwealth in the International Economy' in Mayall (ed) The Commonwealth, 103-21.
139. The Bandung Final Declaration of 24 April 1955 included the clause: 'The participating countries agreed to provide technical assistance to one another, to the maximum extent practicable, in the form of: experts, trainees, pilot projects and equipment for demonstration purposes; exchange of know-how and establishment of national, and where possible, regional training and research institutes for imparting technical knowledge and skills in co-operation with the existing international agencies.' http://franke.uchi cago.edu/Final-Communique-Bandung-1955.pdf [Accessed 13 May 2015].
140. T. Mkandawire, Thinking about Developmental States in Africa. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Geneva, 1998).
141. See Best, Hanhimaki, Maiolo, and Shulze, International History in the Twentieth Century.
142. Fraser, Political Memoirs, 466.
143. Bayne, 'The Commonwealth in the International Economy', 106.
144. Raja Gomez interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
145. Sir Shridath Ramphal interview with Sue Onslow.
146. Sir Peter Marshall interview with Sue Onslow and Dr Bishnodat Persaud (former Director, Economic Affairs Division) discussion paper, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
147. This was the conclusion of the Secretariat review of Commonwealth contributions to international economic issues, conducted in 1990. Bayne's chapter draws extensively on this.
148. Indrajit Coomaraswamy interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
149. Sir Peter Marshall interview with Sue Onslow.
150. Sir Shridath Ramphal interview with Sue Onslow.
151. Mark Robinson (former Special Adviser to Secretary-General Ramphal) interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
152. Moses Anafu interview with Sue Onslow.
153. Stuart Mole and Carl Dundas interviews with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhis tories.org.
154. Stuart Mole interview with Sue Onslow Sir Peter Williams, Witness Seminar: The History of the Commonwealth Secretariat, 23 June 2013. Stephen Chan, former Commonwealth Youth Programme;
155. Purna Sen, former Director, Human Rights Division, available at www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
156. Sir Sonny Ramphal (Secretary-General 1975-90) interview with Sue Onslow
157. Dr Mahathir bin Mohamed interview with Sue Onslow, Kamil Jaafar interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
158. M. Doxey, 'Behind the Headlines', Canadian Institute for International Affairs, xlix, no. 4 (1992).
159. I. Abraham, 'From Bandung to NAM: Non-alignment and Indian Foreign Policy, 1947-65', Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, xlvi, no. 2 (2008).
160. Sir Shridath Ramphal interview with Sue Onslow.
161. These are in the Commonwealth Secretariat Archives, and available digitally on the Margaret Thatcher Foundation website, www.margaretthatcher.org.
162. Sir Ronald Sanders (former High Commissioner for Antigua and Barbuda, and member of Eminent Persons Group 2010-11) interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealth oralhistories.org.
163. Fraser, Political Memoirs.
164. The Ottawa Citizen, 23 Nov. 1983.
165. Commonwealth: Goa Declaration on International Security [New Delhi Heads of Government Meeting] 27 Nov. 1983, Thatcher MSS (Churchill Archive Centre) 1/10/65 f50 [Accessed on Margaret Thatcher Foundation www.margaretthatcher.org/document/131335].
166. Gerald Hensley interview, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
167. Gerald Hensley and Simon Murdoch (former Permanent Secretary, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs) interviews with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhisto ries.org.
168. See G. Hensley, Friendly Fire. Nuclear Politics and the Collapse of ANZUS (New Zealand, 2013).
169. Doxey, The Commonwealth Secretariat, 4.
170. Neville Linton interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.
171. Sir Peter Marshall, 'The North-South Dialogue: Britain at Odds' in E. Jensen and T. Fisher (ed), The United Kingdom - The United Nations (London, 1990), 159-208.
172. D. Howell, Old Links and New Ties. Power and Persuasion in an Age of Networks (London, 2014).
173. Sir Ronald Sanders interview with Sue Onslow, www.commonwealthoralhistories.org.