Commonwealth’s diversity is made for collaboration

Universities and research have much to gain from organisation’s different-but-equal model, says Joanna Newman

Since the Queen’s death in September, the media has gazed into its crystal ball and asked what lies ahead for the Commonwealth. Missing from much of the speculation, however, has been the fact that the modern Commonwealth remains a valuable framework for international cooperation, whoever sits at its head.

From a global pandemic to the energy crisis, recent years have served up a series of reminders that events in one place have repercussions in many others. Growing interdependence, however, has yet to bring the world closer together. Ideological rifts, increased polarisation, and vast disparities in wealth and opportunity have carved up the globe across geopolitical faultlines.