The Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth‟s Role in the 21st Century
Malaysia
The Commonwealth of Nations is an international organization through which 53
independent states with diverse backgrounds collaborate for common goals of liberty,
diversity, dependence, and peace. Although every state, with one exception, share British
rule in their past, all states are voluntarily involved in the Commonwealth. Originally, the
Commonwealth was freely associated members of the British Commonwealth of Nations,
whose laws and actions were to be in alliance with the British crown. After the Second
World War, however, it was necessary to change the blueprint for the Commonwealth. It
was necessary to keep the body of the Commonwealth relevant while never being
overbearing. It was agreed that the Commonwealth would maintain a sense of informality
and looseness (Ingram, Derek). Although influenced by other international organizations,
the Commonwealth takes on the principles to maintain the best ideals and interests of
their peoples. It exists to serve the individual citizens. The Commonwealth serves more
or less as an aid to help policy formation and economical development including budget
management (“The Commonwealth.”. Heads…). The Commonwealth in essence stands
for two ideals, democracy and development. Unlike than the General Assembly in the
United Nations, the Commonwealth rarely has internal battlers. This is because there is
no prize for defeating a political opponent. All delegates are in the same position, so there
is no need to political openhandedness. The Commonwealth stands firm on its standards
for liberty and equality (Ingram, Derek).
The Commonwealth stands at a crossroads, fearing to become either irrelevant, or
overbearing. If the Commonwealth does not change, it risks having other international
organizations like the African Union, which is on the rise to overtake the Commonwealth
which might result in the futility of the Commonwealth. On the other hand, the
Commonwealth does not want to extend its policies too much and estrange the current
members. Since the Commonwealth is voluntary, as policies and principles become more
formal, members may be critical of overall involvement of the Commonwealth, thus
causing their members to leave the organization. Also large nations prefer to deal with
other regional organizations as opposed to the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth,
although financed largely by the CFTC( The Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-
Operation), is also dealing with the problem of giving rewards back to small nations who
can not financially invest in the Commonwealth (Ingram, Derek). Another criticism is
that the Commonwealth does not promote education and economic advancements for the
citizens of countries of belonging to the Commonwealth.
Malaysia believes the Commonwealth is an important part of this world because it gives
unusual benefits to nations, especially those considered “small states”. It works to
alleviate problems of poverty and promote good governance, cultural diversity, and peace
and security. One of the most important aspects of the Commonwealth is that it helps the
small nation‟s improve up their economic status and their debt (McKinnon, Rt Hon Don).
It also helps to promote international trade, and help make it easier for the smaller nations
to trade with bigger well developed trading nations so that nations do not need to solely
rely on their own resources which are most commonly destroyed by natural disasters.
Aside from the immediate human cost and suffering, natural phenomena‟s cause
catastrophic, long-term consequences for the economies of small states. Crucially, the
inability to service existing foreign debt and the risk of default can seriously reduce
opportunities for further borrowing which may be essential to future recovery and
growth. If the Commonwealth is called upon to alleviate this problem it can greatly helps
smaller states who are vulnerable due to location and size (“The Commonwealth.” The
Round Table).
Malaysia, being the eleventh largest nation in the Commonwealth, is devoted to the
Commonwealth‟s commitment to democracy and development, as expressed in the 1991
Harare declaration and elsewhere. As the Commonwealth Secretary General, Rt, Hon
Don McKinnon said in the 2006 Commonwealth lecture, “Values of democracy, human
rights, the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, gender equality, just and honest
government and sustainable development are the standards by which all members agreed
to be judged”( McKinnon, Rt Hon Don). In that sense, members should live up to the
standards that the Commonwealth informally place. Even today, in 2006, equality and
democracy are still as much value to the Commonwealth and to Malaysia as they were
when the Harare Declaration was contrived. The Malaysian Government strongly
believes the Commonwealth should not give up its informality, but rather use democracy
and human rights as standards, which is what the Secretary General of the
Commonwealth believes.
The Commonwealth needs to promote the interests of small states and trade
opportunities. When small states feel threatened, they should be able to declare
themselves neutral and wards of the United Nations Security Council. This insures that if
a larger state attacks, the Security Council may wage attacks (“Let „Grenadas‟…”). The
Malaysian government believes that the Commonwealth needs to take decisive actions to
free certain countries of overridden poverty and debt burdens, and help them use their
resources to address their problems. It should help small states set up flexible security
services that deal with the developmental projects and disaster relief (“Let
„Grenadas‟…”). The Malaysian Government calls upon the Red Cross specifically to help
set up disaster relief particular to the country. In Malaysia for example the number one
disaster is flood, which can effect up to 860,120 people ("Disaster Profile- Malaysia.").
The Red Cross would set up Flood relief emergency help to aid in the countries
resilience. In Kiribati however, their biggest natural disaster is drought, which causes the
island to become a dustbowl making airborne virus deadly diseases ("Pacific Island
Report."). The Red Cross in this case would have to set up facilities dealing with
specifically these viruses and the root of the problem which is the drought. A framework
must be set up that identifies and helps implement policies of educations and practices
that promote self-serving courses of actions. The Commonwealth needs to stand for its
existence by finding a medium between interfering and backing away. Most importantly,
the practices must deal with promoting cultural diversity (“The Commonwealth.”
Head…). The Malaysian Government believes we need to also maintain the informality
and principles set forth by the Harare declaration in order to stay relevant in the 21st
century. In order to proceed to relevance, a rights-based approach must be set up so that
the Commonwealth‟s goals and ideas are heard and enforced. Malaysia believes the
Commonwealth, although informal, must set formal guidelines in which countries adhere
to, making their purpose relevant and significant. The Malaysian Government believes it
must help to promote international issues before domestic ones. The Commonwealth is
not only relevant to the 21st century, but one of the only international organizations that
promotes equality, peace, security and prosperity, and cultural diversity (“The
Commonwealth.” Heads…).
Works Cited
"Disaster Profile- Malaysia." MVFRA. Mar. 2004. The OFDA/CRED International
Disaster Database. 29 Oct. 2007 .
Ingram, Derek. "Commonwealth Update." Round Table 89 (2000): 311-335. Ebsco
Industries. EbscoHost. 16 Oct. 2007.
“Let „Grenadas‟ go neutral, says security report; Commonwealth Conference to discuss
security of small states.” Sunday Times ( London, England) ( Oct 13, 1985) : NA.
Custom Newspapers. Gale. Cumberland County Library. 4 Oct 2007
McKinnon, Rt Hon Don. "2006 Commonwealth Lecture." Trinty College, the University
of Melbourne, Australia. 22 Mar. 2006. 8 Oct. 2007
.
"Pacific Island Report." 03 Mar. 2001. 29 Oct. 2007
.
“The Commonwealth.” Heads of Government in Harare, Zimbabwe. Commonwealth
Secretariat. Harare Commonwealth Declaration. 20 Oct. 1991. 20 Sept. 2007
.
“The Commonwealth.” The Round Table. The Commonwealth of Nations.
Documentation. 25 Oct. 2001. 17 Oct. 2007.