Book VI International Organizations, 28 Other International and Regional Organizations: Commonwealth, NATO, Council of Europe, OAS, AU, ASEAN, CIS, Francophonie, Arab League, Organization of the Islamic Conference, OSCE

28.1 The idea of the Commonwealth goes back to the nineteenth century when, after Canada had become a self-governing Dominion, the future prime minister, Lord Roseberry, referred to the Empire as a Commonwealth of Nations. (Neither Canada nor the other subsequent Dominions achieved equality with Britain when they became Dominions. They remained subordinate even though, by the start of the twentieth Century, the Colonial Office would have hesitated to interfere. Thus, until the First World War, all formal official communications with London had to go through the...