China and the Commonwealth

The Commonwealth needs a China policy. As China’s international presence grows, as it flexes global muscles, as our post-1945 global order crumbles, and as individual Commonwealth nations increasingly face their own China-related crises, it is surely time to express a common defence of human rights and democratic values. Read more here.

What role for the Commonwealth in the new normal – AD (after the Disease)?

When written in Chinese, the word crisis contains two elements – one ‘danger’, and the other ‘opportunity’. One might ponder how the current Covid-19 pandemic crisis might impact on the Commonwealth – threats but also opportunities? Read more here.

How Beijing's billions are buying up the Commonwealth

Paul Flather, a fellow of Mansfield College, Oxford, adds: “We need to put a brake on China, and the Commonwealth could do that. This is a chance for the Commonwealth to test itself. It can't continue to be a diminishing historical legacy; it needs to recognise its role and if it's going to be influential, it needs to step up." Read more here.

India braces for radical change under second term of Modi.

The 900-million strong Indian electorate has spoken – and the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been swept decisively back to power. Read more here.

Indians set to judge the Modi years in greatest democratic show on Earth

The ‘greatest political show on Earth’, as it has sometimes been dubbed, is underway in India. It is up to the 900 million eligible voters to decide if Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done enough to justify a second five-year term in office as he and his Hindu-based Bharatiya Janata Party desperately seek. Read more here.

Universities to help the Commonwealth fight radicalisation.

UK universities are engaged with the Commonwealth Secretariat in an initiative to tackle radicalisation on campuses across the Commonwealth. Read more here.

Should Mother Teresa accept money from the Mafia?

In Alan Montefiore & David Vines (eds.), Integrity in the Public and Private Domains. Routledge. pp. 190 (1999). Read more here.