In the wake of Brexit, the Commonwealth has been identified as an important body for future British trade and diplomacy, but few know what it actually does. How is it organized and what has held it together for so long? How important is the Queen's role as Head of the Commonwealth? Most importantly, why has it had such a troubled recent past, and is it realistic to imagine that its fortunes might be reversed?In The Empire's New Clothes,? Murphy strips away the gilded self-image of the Commonwealth to reveal an irrelevant institution afflicted by imperial amnesia. He offers a personal perspective on this complex and poorly understood institution, and asks if it can ever escape from the shadow of the British Empire to become an organization based on shared values, rather than a shared history.

Written by a senior Indian diplomat who has until recently also served as Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General, this book provides a unique and far-reaching exploration of the British Commonwealth, and its impact since the second World War on the process of Britain adjusting to a world without Empire. Whither the Commonwealth now? What is its record of achievement; what are the benefits of membership to countries in terms of collective political influence, trade, investment, aid, travel and education? Can any practical good be envisaged for this nearly moribund post-colonial organization? Britain, which brought the association into being and is central to it, would have to play a key part in determining its future. But in coming to such decisions, the British Government faces great problems of perception, both from the Monarchy and the British public.

Examines many seminal experiments in international adjudication and the origins of several major existing international courts.

The Commonwealth is working for the UK however if the organisation is to reach its potential and influence events, the Commonwealth Secretariat needs to "sharpen, strengthen and promote its diplomatic performance". Recently the Commonwealth has appeared less active and less publicly visible. The Government does not appear to have a clear and co-ordinated strategy for its relations with the Commonwealth. The moral authority of the Commonwealth has "too often been undermined by the repressive actions of member governments". The Committee is "disturbed to note the ineffectiveness of the mechanisms for upholding the Commonwealth's values", and expresses support for the Eminent Persons Group's proposal for a Commonwealth Charter. The Committee also says that it is not convinced that member states are making the most of the economic and trading opportunities offered by the Commonwealth. The report welcomes the fact that the Commonwealth continues to attract interest from potential new members, and the report says that there are advantages in greater diversity and an extended global reach for the Commonwealth however the application process should be rigorous. There is also concern at the continuing evidence of serious human rights abuses in Sri Lanka and the Committee urges the Prime Minister to state publicly his unwillingness to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo meeting unless he receives "convincing and independently-verified evidence of substantial and sustainable improvements in human and political rights in Sri Lanka."

Looking at decolonization in the conditional tense, this volume teases out the complex and uncertain ends of British and French empire in Africa during the period of ‘late colonial shift’ after 1945. Rather than view decolonization as an inevitable process, the contributors together explore the crucial historical moments in which change was negotiated, compromises were made, and debates were staged. Three core themes guide the analysis: development, contingency and entanglement. The chapters consider the ways in which decolonization was governed and moderated by concerns about development and profit. A complementary focus on contingency allows deeper consideration of how colonial powers planned for ‘colonial futures’, and how divergent voices greeted the end of empire. Thinking about entanglements likewise stresses both the connections that existed between the British and French empires in Africa, and those that endured beyond the formal transfer of power.