Commune consensu: a soft power comparison of the Commonwealth and the European Union

The post-war heritage, institutional similarities, and policy motivations shared between commonwealth entities and contemporary international organisations, and their subsequent impact on soft power represents a wealth of unexplored potential.

As will be explored in this article, both the Commonwealth of Nations and the European Union represent different facets of contemporary multilateralism, have a markedly different impact on their respective members, and yet are both formidable ‘hybrid’ actors that can contribute to, and even constitute, global governance, while simultaneously defying easy description.

Examining the concept of ‘soft power’, the structural and normative challenges facing both entities, the manner by which ‘house values’ are used to define the home institution, and the specific role of development policy, this article offers a series of pragmatic policy reforms that both organisations must perforce undertake if each is to tackle successfully the 21st century challenge of maintaining both structural and substantive integrity.