Foreign and Commonwealth Office Archives - Commonwealth Oral History Project

Interview with Sir John Major

by evanamusoke | Oct 14, 2018 | Apartheid, Brexit, CHOGM, Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), Decolonisation, Democracy, Diplomacy, Elections, European Economic Community, European Union, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Human Rights, India, Malaysia, Queen, South Africa, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Major, John. 1943-. Born in UK. Member of Parliament (Conservative Party), 1979-2001. Parliamentary Private Secretary, 1981. Under-Secretary of State for Social Security in 1985. Minister of State for Social Security, 1986....

Interview with Abdul Minty

by nicholaszuniga | May 4, 2017 | Apartheid, Civil Society, Constitutional Change, Decolonisation, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Environment, European Economic Community, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Human Rights, NATO, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Nuclear, Race, South Africa, Trade and Investment, United Kingdom, United Nations

Download the transcript (12 Feb 2013) Biography – Abdul Minty. Born South Africa, 1939. Graduate University College London. Appointed the Honorary Secretary of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) 1962-1995. He played an important role in lobbying the...

Interview with Billie Miller

by nicholaszuniga | May 4, 2017 | Barbados, CARICOM, Civil Society, Constitutional Change, Decolonisation, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Education, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Gender, Human Rights, Jamaica, Judiciary, Law, Reflections, Small States, Trade and Investment, Trade Unions, Trinidad and Tobago

Download the transcript (12 Jan 2015) Biography – Dame Billie Miller was educated at Queen’s College in Barbados, King’s College, Durham University and the Council of Legal Education in England. She was the coordinator of CARICOM ministerial spokespersons with...

Clyde Sanger’s Reflections on the 1979 Lusaka CHOGM

by chrismoffat | Jul 29, 2015 | CHOGM, Commonwealth Secretariat, Diplomacy, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Kenya, Media, Reflections, Rhodesia (see also Zimbabwe), South Africa, United Kingdom, Zambia, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download Copy of Journal. “Journal of an Extraordinary Heads of Government Meeting: Lusaka, Zambia, August 1979. Other than at Marlborough House, I was in Zambia (p.14-28, 57-138, 139; Conference 116-37), Nairobi (p.139), France (p.140-4), England...

Interview with Mark Robinson

by chrismoffat | Jul 15, 2015 | Apartheid, CHOGM, Civil Society, Commonwealth Secretariat, Development, Diplomacy, Education, Elections, Falklands Islands, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Grenada, Kenya, Malta, Namibia, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Queen, Rhodesia (see also Zimbabwe), South Africa, Technical Assistance, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, United Nations, Zambia, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download Interview Transcripts: Part One (17 July 2013); Part Two (8 August 2013); Appendix One (on Belize). Biography: Robinson, Mark. 1946- . Born in Bristol, England. Educated at the University of Oxford. Special Assistant, United Nations Emergency Relief Operation...

Interview with Simon Murdoch

by rcraggs | May 22, 2015 | Apartheid, Australia, Canada, Commonwealth Secretariat, Diplomacy, European Economic Community, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, NATO, New Zealand, Nuclear, Papua New Guinea, Small States, Sport, United Kingdom

Download interview transcript. Biography: Murdoch, Simon. 1948- . Educated at the University of Canterbury. Joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New Zealand, 1972. Joined Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 1980, as Foreign Affairs Adviser to Robert...

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Definitioner

Sir Humphrey (Humphrey Appleby)

Sir Humphrey Appleby is a fictional television character from the British television series Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. He serves the British government in the fictional post of ‘Permanent Secretary for the Department of Administrative Affairs’.

David McDowell

David McDowell (b.1937) is a New Zealand diplomat who served as Special Assistant to the Commonwealth Secretary General Arnold Smith from 1969 to 1972. McDowell was later New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India, Nepal and Bangladesh (1983-85) and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1985-88). From 1994 to 1999 he was Director-General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Simon Murdoch

Simon Murdoch (b.1948) is a New Zealand-born diplomat and civil servant who served as Chief Executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from 1991 to 1998. He had previously been Foreign Affairs advisor to Robert Muldoon in the 1980s, and Head of the Prime Minister’s Policy Advisory Group, 1989-91.

CHOGRM

Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meetings (CHOGRMs) had their origins in a series of talks between the Australian and Indian Governments under the Prime Minsisters Malcolm Fraser, Moraji Desai, and Indira Gandhi.

CND

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was formed in Britain in 1957 and advocates the global abolition of nuclear weapons and tighter international regulations around the arms trade. It is one of the foremost pacifist movements in Europe.

APEC

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established in 1989 and is a forum seeking to promote free trade and economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Humphrey Maud

Sir Humphrey Maud (1934-2013). British diplomat. He was Commonwealth Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, 1993-99.

Jim Bolger

James “Jim” Bolger (b. 1935). New Zealand politician and member of the National Party. He was Prime Minister 1990-97, and leader of the opposition, 1986-90.

Idi Amin

Idi Amin (c. 1925-2003). Became President of Uganda, 1971-79, after seizing power through a military coup.

World Bank

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. An international institution, founded in 1944, that funds development projects

United Nations. Major international organisation, founded in 1945.

South Pacific Forum

The South Pacific Forum was an international organisation formed in 1971 to facilitate cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean. In 1999, it was renamed the Pacific Islands Forum.

soft power

A concept used to explain an emphasis on a attracting and co-opting power as opposed to coercive or forceful power.

Arnold Smith

Arnold Smith (1915 –1994). Canadian diplomat, the first Commonwealth Secretary-General (1965–1975).

Ken Saro-Wiwa

Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941-1995). Nigerian writer and political and environmental activist. An outspoken critic of the regime of General Sani Abacha, and Royal Dutch Shell’s environmental pollution in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta, Saro Wiwa was executed on 10 November 1995. Eight other MOSOP activists were hanged.

Sonny Ramphal (Shridath Ramphal)

Shridath Surendranath 'Sonny' Ramphal (b. 1928). Guyanese politician, second Commonwealth Secretary-General (1975-1990).

OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. An global economic organisation of 34 countries to promote economic progress and international trade, founded in 1961.

ODA

Overseas Development Administration. A department of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office with responsibility for overseas aid from 1970 to 1974 and from 1979 to 1997.

Brian Mulroney

Brian Mulroney (b. 1939). Canadian politician, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1983-93) and Prime Minister of Canada (1984-93).

Robert Muldoon

Sir Robert Muldoon (1921-1992). New Zealand politician and member of the National party. He was Prime Minister, 1975-84.

Robert Mugabe

Robert Mugabe (b.1924). Zimbabwean resistance leader and politician. Served as Prime Minister (1980-1987) and President (1987-) of Zimbabwe.

Don McKinnon

Sir Donald McKinnon (b. 1939) is a New Zealand politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister for the National Party (1990-96), Foreign Minister (1990-99) and Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations (2000-08).

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela (b. 1918). South African anti-apartheid campaigner and politician, served as South Africa’s first post-apartheid President (1994-1999).

John Major

John Major (b.1943). British politician, served, amongst other ministerial positions, as Foreign Secretary (1989) and Prime Minister (1990-1997).

David Lange

David Lange (1942-2005). New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party. He was Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1984-89.

IMF

International Monetary Fund. Created in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference, the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF's original aim was to stabilise exchange rates and aid national reconstruction after the end of the Second World War.

Bob Hawke

Bob Hawke (b. 1929). Australian Prime Minister (1983-1991).

Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931). Final leader of the Soviet Union (1985-1991).

Gleneagles Agreement

The Gleneagles Agreement was approved by Commonwealth leaders in Gleneagles, Scotland in 1977, supporting an international campaign against apartheid. Click here to read the Agreement in full.

GATT

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. A multilateral agreement managing international trade, agreed in 1947 and succeeded in 1995 by the World Trade Organisation.

Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi (1944-1991). Indian politician, served as Prime Minister from 1984 to 1989.

Malcolm Fraser

Malcolm Fraser (b. 1930). Prime Minister of Australia (1975-1983). Fraser also served as Co-Chairman of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group on South Africa.

Falklands War

The 1982 war between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the disputed sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, also known as the Malvinas, situated in the South Atlantic.

EPG

Eminent Persons Group. A group of well-known individuals chosen by the Commonwealth to research a specific issue. The 1985 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting appointed an EPG to report on apartheid in South Africa, published in 1986 as Mission to South Africa. A second EPG was appointed in 2009 and tasked to produce a report on Commonwealth reform for 2011.

Elephant Hills

A hotel and resort in Zimbabwe.

John Compton

Sir John Compton (1925–2007). Saint Lucian politician and Prime Minister (1979, 1982-1996, 2006-2007).

Commonwealth Secretariat

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the principal inter-governmental body of the Commonwealth, responsible for promoting cooperation between members. Founded in 1965.

CMAG

Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. Established by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1995, the CMAG upholds the terms of the Harare Declaration.

CFTC (Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation)

The Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) is an organisation administered by the Commonwealth Secretariat that delivers technical assistance to Commonwealth member countries. A mutual and voluntary fund, it was established in 1971.

Cold War

A period of ideological tension from around 1945 to 1991 between capitalist nations led by the USA and communist nations led by the USSR.

CHOGM

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Every two years Commonwealth heads of government meet to discuss global and Commonwealth issues, with the aim of promoting common initiatives.

ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Formed in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a political and economic organization of Southeast Asian countries.

Robert Armstrong (Lord Armstrong)

Sir Robert Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Ilminster, (b. 1927) is a British life peer and former civil servant. He served as Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister from 1970 to 1975, and Secretary of the Cabinet under Margaret Thatcher from 1979 to 1987.

Apartheid

A system of legally enforced racial segregation implemented and upheld by the National Party in South Africa from 1948 – 1994

Emeka Anyaoku

Emeka Anyaoku (b. 1933). Nigerian diplomat. Served as Head of the Commonwealth International Affairs Division (1973-1977), Assistant Secretary General (1977-1979); Deputy Secretary General (1979-1991); Secretary General (1991-2001).

ANC

African National Congress. A South African political party, founded in 1912, that opposed apartheid and has been South Africa’s governing party since 1994.

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher (1926-2013). British politician and Prime Minister (1979-1990).

Mrs Thatcher (Margaret Thatcher)

Margaret Thatcher (1926-2013). British politician and Prime Minister (1979-1990).

Interview with Sir John Major

Interview with Abdul Minty

Interview with Billie Miller

Clyde Sanger’s Reflections on the 1979 Lusaka CHOGM

Interview with Mark Robinson

Interview with Simon Murdoch

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