Is the Commonwealth working?

Day Conference at Senate House, University of London, 27 May 2022, 9.30am-6pm

The twice-postponed Kigali Commonwealth summit is now due to take place in the week beginning 20 June 2022. The leaders’ debate is likely to be lively. Can the significant decline in resources be reversed and new relevance and impact be restored to the Commonwealth’s programmes? With a hotly-contested election for the post of Secretary-General under way, a controversial Chair-in-Office and Prince Charles assuming a greater role in representing the Head, will the Commonwealth have the leadership necessary for future challenges? With recurrent questions about Rwanda’s commitment to human rights and controversy about how Commonwealth nations should treat refugees and migrants, is the association doing enough to sustain its values? And can the Commonwealth’s networks sustain it as a relevant soft power organisation for the twenty-first century, given the current turbulence in international relations following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

 Is the Commonwealth working? Come and hear a wide spectrum of international panellists debate this important question. 

Confirmed speakers include: on networks, Anne Gallagher, Eva Namusoke and Indrajit Coomaraswamy; on leadership, Philip Murphy, Euripides L. Evriviades, and Guy Hewitt; on values, Cynthia Barrow-Giles and William Horsley; and on programmes, Sir Ronald Sanders, Sandra Pepera and Mischa Manderson-Mills. 

This event is organised by The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, in partnership with the Commonwealth Foundation and the Commonwealth Association. 

 Spaces are limited and registration is essential. Registration closes 20 May. To register, click here