The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the Commonwealth and previously as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation An intergovernmental organization, sometimes rendered as an international governmental organization and both abbreviated as IGO, is an organization comprised primarily of sovereign states , or of other intergovernmental organization. Intergovernmental organizations are often called international organizations, although that term may also include of fifty-three The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states, most of them are former British colonies, or dependencies of these colonies. No one government in the Commonwealth exercises power over the others, as in a political union. Rather, the relationship is one of an international organisation through which independent member states An international organization is an organization with an international membership, scope, or presence. There are two main types:. Most of them were formerly part of the British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a. They co-operate within a framework of common values and goals as outlined in the Singapore Declaration.[1] These include the promotion of democracy Democracy is a system of government in which either the actual governing is carried out by the people governed , or the power to do so is granted by them (as in representative democracy). The term is derived from the Greek δημοκρατία (dēmokratía (info)), "popular government", which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos), ", human rights Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law; and economic, social and cultural, good governance Good governance is a indeterminate term used in development literature to describe how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources in order to guarantee the realization of human rights. Governance describes the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented . The term governance can apply, the rule of law The rule of law, also called supremacy of law, simply means that the law is above everyone and it applies to everyone. Whether governors or governed, rulers or ruled, no one is above the law, no one is exempted from the law, and no one can grant exemption to the application of the law, individual liberty Liberty is a concept of political philosophy and identifies the condition in which an individual has the right to act according to his or her own will, egalitarianism Egalitarianism has two distinct definitions in modern English. It is defined either as a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals and have the same political, economic, social, and civil rights or as a social philosophy advocating the removal of economic inequalities among people, free trade Free trade is a type of trade policy that allows traders to act and transact without interference from government. According to the law of comparative advantage the policy permits trading partners mutual gains from trade of goods and services, multilateralism Most[citation needed] international organizations, such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization are multilateral in nature. The main proponents of multilateralism have traditionally been the middle powers such as Canada, Australia and the Nordic countries. Larger states often act unilaterally, while the smaller ones may have little and world peace World peace is an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations and/or peoples. World peace is a Utopian idea of planetary non-violence by which nations willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance which prevents warfare. Although the term is sometimes used to refer to a cessation of all.[2]
The Commonwealth traces its origins to the Statute of Westminster 1931 The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established a status of legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the British Empire and the United Kingdom, with a few residual exceptions. The Statute remains domestic law within each of the other Commonwealth realms, to the extent that it.[3] It is not a political union A political union is a type of state which is composed of or created out of smaller states. Unlike a personal union, the individual states share a common government and the union is recognized internationally as a single political entity. A political union may also be called a legislative union or state union, but an intergovernmental organisation through which countries with diverse social, political and economic backgrounds are regarded as equal in status. Its activities are carried out through the permanent Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating cooperation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings ; assisting and advising on policy development; and providing assistance to countries, headed by the Secretary-General; biennial Meetings The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, abbreviated to CHOGM, is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations. Every two years the meeting is held in a different member state, and is chaired by that nation's respective Prime Minister or President, who becomes the Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office between Commonwealth Heads of Government; and the Commonwealth Foundation, which facilitates activities of non-governmental organisations Non-governmental organization is a term that has become widely accepted as referring to a legally constituted, non-governmental organization created by natural or legal persons with no participation or representation of any government. In the cases in which NGOs are funded totally or partially by governments, the NGO maintains its non-governmental in the so-called 'Commonwealth Family The Commonwealth Family is a network of associations, organisations, and charities affiliated to the Commonwealth of Nations. Although associated with the Commonwealth, they are not fully a part of it, and membership is on a voluntary basis from within the membership of the Commonwealth. They are designed to advance the principles and policies of'. The symbol of this free association An associated state is the minor partner in a formal, free relationship between a political territory with a degree of statehood and a nation, for which no other specific term, such as protectorate, is adopted. The details of such "free association" are contained in a Compact of Free Association or Associated Statehood Act and are is the Head of the Commonwealth The Head of the Commonwealth is the highest position within the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental organisation which currently comprises 53 sovereign states. The first Head of the Commonwealth was King George VI, the British monarch who was also head of state of many states and territories within the British Empire, which is a ceremonial position currently held by Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known informally as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and.
Elizabeth II is also the monarch A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy, a form of government in which the country or entity usually ruled or controlled by an individual who usually rules for life or until abdication. Monarchs may be autocrats or may be ceremonial heads of state who exercise little or no power or only reserve power, with actual authority vested in a, separately, of sixteen members of the Commonwealth, known as the Commonwealth realms A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 sovereign states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II as their respective monarch. The realms have a combined land area of 18.8 million km² , and a population of 132 million; all but about two million live in the six most populous states, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Papua. As each realm is an independent kingdom, the Queen, as monarch, holds a distinct title A style of office, or honorific, is a legal, official, or recognized title, in other words a term which by tradition or law precedes a reference to a person who holds a post, or which is used to refer to the political office itself. An honorific can also be awarded to an individual in a personal capacity. Such styles are particularly associated for each, though, by a Meeting of Commonwealth Prime Ministers in 1952, all include the style Head of the Commonwealth at the end; for example: Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Australia and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth. Beyond the realms, the majority of the members of the Commonwealth have separate heads of state: thirty-two members are republics A republic is a form of government in which the head of state is not a monarch and the people have an impact on its government. The word 'republic' is derived from the Latin phrase res publica which can be translated as "public affairs", and five members have distinct monarchs: the Sultan The Sultan of Brunei is the head of state and head of government of Brunei. The royal lineage can be traced back to the 15th century. The 29 Sultans of Brunei are: of Brunei Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace (Malay: Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: بروني دارالسلام), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia. Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea it is completely surrounded by the state of; the King of Lesotho Lesotho (pronounced /lɨˈsuːtuː/ ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave — entirely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. Its size is just over 30,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 1,800,000. Its capital is Maseru. It is the southernmost landlocked country in the world. It is a member of; the Yang di-Pertuan Agong The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the highest-ranking office created by the constitution of the federation of Malaysia. The office was first established at independence in 1957. In accordance with the constitution, the holder of this office is "the Supreme Head of the Federation" and as such is Malaysia's Head of State (or King) of Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of 329,847 square kilometres (127,355 sq mi). The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 27 million. The country is separated into two regions—; the King This page contains a list of paramount chiefs and kings of Swaziland. See also lists of incumbents of Swaziland The Kingdom of Swaziland , sometimes called Ngwane, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south, and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique. The nation, as well as its people, are named after the 19th century king Mswati II; and the King This is a list of monarchs of Tonga since 1875 after the constitutional role of the monarch was put forth. Tonga is the only monarchy in Oceania that is not a Commonwealth realm. The first monarch was George Tupou I of Tonga Tonga, the only sovereign monarchy among the island nations of the Pacific Ocean, has the distinction of being the only island nation in the region to have avoided formal colonization.
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Q. Can commonwealth countries join the armed forces of other commonwealth countries?
Asked by bigjuicey1986 - Fri Apr 3 16:05:14 2009 - - 3 Answers - 1 Comments
A. im pretty sure that Commonwealth countries can join other common wealth countries militaries. The one that I am positive on is the British military.
Answered by My Name Sucks Too - Fri Apr 3 19:09:37 2009
