ABSTRACT
As a partial response to the above lament, this book seeks to put the
English-speaking Commonwealths (plural; i.e. as explained below,
non-as well as inter-state agencies and networks) in comparative, conceptual context, with applied as well as analytic relevance. I do so
in at least four ways which:
contrast the inter-and non-governmental Commonwealths, as the former, ‘‘official’’ dimension has held most analytic and policy
attention over the years despite the ‘‘unofficial’’ being the more
dynamic and expansive, a dominant theme of this book as out-
lined in Chapter 1; consider the contribution, if any, of both ‘‘sides’’ of the Com-
monwealths to the analysis and practice of ‘‘global governance’’
(see especially Chapters 3 and 6);
compare the Commonwealths to other established global and regional agencies, from the United Nations (UN) and interna-
tional financial institutions (IFI) ‘‘systems’’ to the African Union
(AU), European Union (EU) and Organization of American
States (OAS), for example; and, finally, in particular, juxtapose the anglophone Commonwealth, which has its roots in
the British empire (see Chapter 2) with parallel ex-imperial Com-
monwealths, notably la francophonie and the lusophone, Russian,
Spanish and even ‘‘Nordic’’ and Islamic Commonwealths as indi-
cated in the next chapter.
