ABSTRACT
The thesis of this conclusion is that the inter-and non-state Com-
monwealths will continue to have impact and respect, primarily
because of their civil society, professional association and private cor-
porate dimensions, even if they never approach the status or reach of
the global UN or IFI institutions nor the regional EU or ASEAN
organizations. And the NGO and MNC extensions of the Common-
wealths are likely to grow in terms of numbers and issues faster than
ComSec as they both respond to both demand and opportunity at the start of the twenty-first century, particularly in the anglophone worlds
of communications, culture, ecology, economics, education, gender,
health and technology: what I characterize as Commonwealth Plus.
Moreover, in part because of its relative marginality, the intergovern-
mental Commonwealth, at least, post-apartheid, has never faced the
crises which the UN confronted at the turn of the century around
post-Cold War conflicts and internal accountability, legitimacy and
transparency. This conclusion progresses from a consideration of the Common-
wealths in the context of uneven globalizations to their continuing
institutional, applied and analytic contributions. It ends by proposing
that such a juxtaposition may come to inform traditional international
relations as well as constitute a positive response to the growing plea
to learn from Africa about the salience of non-state cooperation and
conflict.
