#
A
}
-
CONFIDENTIAL
10 -
DSR 11C
leadership and cannot resume it just to bring about changes
we want. We shall stand a much better chance of success
if we have support for our ideas from other Commonwealth
members, including some from the New Commonwealth. We shall
also need to work through the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Possible Changes
17. It would be ideal if we could make more use of the
Commonwealth in pursuit of our foreign policy in, for
example, the UN. But the disparate nature of the
Commonwealth, the reluctance of Third World countries
to break ranks with the Group of 77, and the fact that
we are no longer at the centre of the organisation, able
to orchestrate it, make this an unrealistic objective.
We shall have to settle for less.
"...
18. Our objectives might be:
(i)
to encourage the trend towards regional cooperation
in the Commonwealth.
This would maintain
and develop many of the advantages of the
Commonwealth without involving British Ministers
or officials since we are not members of a regional
group. This is likely to find some support among both
old and new Commonwealth members: Australia
has been keen on regional meetings of Asian and
Pacific countries; and Jamaica was disappointed
that more progress towards regionalism was not made
at Melbourne.
/(ii)