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The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs and Policy Studies is published six times a year.
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Contributions on these themes, to the Editor are particularly welcome.Malaysia: The 15th general election and its implications
From the Archive
On 1 April Shirley Botchwey took office as the Commonwealth’s seventh secretary-general. In this article from 20 years ago, while taking into account the constraints on the role and the effects of external conditions on the nature and extent of it, Stephen Chan adopts an extended ornithological metaphor to assess the leadership styles and achievements of her first four predecessors: likening them, in turn, to a Weaver (Arnold Smith), a Bird of Paradise (Shridath Ramphal), a Hoopoe (Emeka Anyaoku), and a Kiwi (Don McKinnon). ['From the Archives' curated by Alex May and Paul Flather]
Debates over educational philosophy and the curriculum remain highly salient across the Commonwealth today. This article, by A.G. Frazer, is a case study of the Prince of Wales College at Achimota, Gold Coast (now Ghana), founded the previous year, illuminating contemporary colonial educational practices. Here we read of the problems of transplanting British educational models without due adaptation. The article advocates for ‘pupils [to] learn in their own vernacular’ so that they learn about the local as well as the global.
Some see the Watergate scandal as an example of how American constitutionalism works – which might be reassuring in a time when President Trump challenges its limits. However, in this wide- ranging article from 50 years ago Max (later Lord) Beloff argues that Watergate exposed the inherent vulnerabilities and unrealistic expectations of the American constitutional system. Courts functioned, impeachment processed, and a new president was peacefully installed. Yet, Beloff argues, there was executive overreach, faltering accountability, and checks and balances failures.