Dates: 20-21 November 2025
Venue: Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Senate House, University of London
In 2025 the Commonwealth of Nations is celebrating two major anniversaries: the creation of its Secretariat 60 years ago, which went on to establish a Commonwealth-wide team of diplomats and administrators to oversee programmes and policies and to provide informed insights; and the Millbrook Action Programme on the Harare Declaration, which set up the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) 30 years ago to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law as well as sanction states found to be in violation of these tenets. But with the advance of far-right and populist regimes in recent years, the year 2025 has also been marked so far by blatant displays of transactional diplomacy and attacks (both actual and contemplated) on international regimes of sovereignty, human rights and the rule of law. This is not unprecedented, nor did it begin in 2025. Yet attacks on democratic governance have in recent months benefited from rising disregard for fact-checking, particularly in the age of social media and artificial intelligence. This has highlighted the importance of responsible and accountable reporting, as well as the safeguarding of sites of knowledge production across the world, as a key priority for states, people, and international organisations whose commitment to democracy is primordial.
What role can the Commonwealth of Nations play in this context, as a voluntary international association of states and people? How well-equipped is the Commonwealth to face the multiplicity of challenges posed to a rules-based international system? What leadership, or support, can its experience, expertise, institutions and networks provide, to preserve and promote the rule of law, in both domestic contexts and on the international stage?
This conference proposes to discuss these issues, by reflecting on four connected themes.
1.Definitions of democracy
What definitions of democracy do Commonwealth declarations, programmes and policies provide? If democracy is understood as a bottom-up, grassroots process, what added value can Commonwealth institutions provide? What impact does the experience of the long ends of empire, and awareness of the unfinished processes of decolonisation, have on Commonwealth programmes for nation-building and state-building? Are there specific Commonwealth understandings of the relationship between democracy and development, and between state and society, as evidenced in discourse and/or policies? Are the mechanisms in place in support of democracy, human rights and the rule of law fit for purpose in the current turbulence of international politics ? Can these be useful models outside of the organisation? What is the contemporary Commonwealth’s contribution to the international debate on the role of free media in any democracy, and on the interplay between accountability and freedom?
2. Mediation, good offices and consensus-building
If the Commonwealth has been, as its late Secretary General Sir Shridath Ramphal stated, a bridge builder, the use and impact of good offices is, because of its very nature, difficult to trace and to assess. Can particular case studies in the life of the Commonwealth since the creation of its Secretariat in 1965, be seen as evidence of successful discrete diplomacy? What are the conditions for the success of good offices – and what are the factors (from the structural to the personal and the incidental) that can derail mediation or facilitation undertaken by the Commonwealth? What role do ideas and experiences of space, location and mobility, at the heart of meeting and conferencing, play in this? Is there a particular Commonwealth approach to consensus-building, facilitation and mediation? And what policy and diplomatic space remains, in the contemporary context, for bridge-building away from the limelight of the media in this age of 24/7 news coverage?
3. International norms and the challenges of hegemony
Many of the issues above relate to evolving international norms, challenged by hegemonic actors. Commonwealth programmes have supported democracy building in various domestic contexts, but how well placed is the Commonwealth to promote democratic international governance? What added value do states and civil society actors that straddle several international or transnational organisations, including several Commonwealth members, have for improving global democracy? Different political cultures, in states and in international organisations, make the very prospect of global democracy a distant ideal. But this does not mean that the current regressive environment cannot be questioned, or reversed. What perspectives do Commonwealth actors offer on hegemony, hard power and force? Which ones are willing to counter hegemony, and what assets do they have to support and improve human-rights based international regimes?
Papers are invited on any of the above topics, from both academics and practitioners. Papers can focus on pan-Commonwealth issues, on specific case studies that relate to the Commonwealth as a whole, or instances in which Commonwealth states offer case studies of issues or dynamics affecting the Global South as a whole. Papers that relate Commonwealth debates to the wider international scene are particularly welcome. Also welcome are papers on historical case studies that are of direct interest for current Commonwealth discussions.
This conference favours interdisciplinary approaches to understandings of democracy and international relations. Contributions in the fields of, notably, history, law, politics, sociology, geography, development studies, and international relations are all welcome.
The conference will be held in a hybrid format. Papers should be submitted beforehand by 1 November 2025, and will be circulated electronically. Presentations will be no more than 10 minutes, to facilitate in-depth discussions.
There is no registration fee for the participants. Catering will be provided for those attending in person (participants should transport and accommodation costs).
Dates:
- 30 June 2025: abstracts (250 words max.) and a brief biography (150 words max.) to be sent to the organisers. Please indicate if you will attend in person or online; and if online, what time zone you will be joining from.
- 11 July 2025: organisers to send notification of acceptance
- 1 November 2025 (latest): papers and any slides to be sent to the organisers
A selection of articles, derived from the papers, is expected to be published in The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs and Policy Studies.
With the support of: The Institute of Commonwealth Studies, the Institut universitaire de France, Sciences Po Strasbourg, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs and Policy Studies.
