Choosing a New Secretary General: More Politicking?
Choosing a New Secretary General: More Politicking?
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选择新秘书长：更多政治活动？
DOI：
10.1080/00358533.2015.1005361
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发表时间：
2015
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Onslow S
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Onslow S
为英联邦选择新的秘书长从来都不是一件容易的事情，正如桑德拉·佩佩拉最近的一篇评论文章所表明的那样，明年11月的选举也不例外。加勒比地区不同阵营与其竞争对手候选人之间最近发生的摩擦鲜明地提醒人们，在12月8日古巴-加共体(加勒比共同体和共同市场)首脑会议期间，在讨论这一问题时，选举过程不可避免地伴随着政治活动，然后又一次推迟作出决定。回顾过去，令人震惊的是，在之前五次任命秘书长的情况下，这场英联邦国家的内斗是如何被掩盖的：有几个月的竞选活动短暂地提到了竞争对手，目的是寻找“合格、高调和有经验的人”，但却断言“地区之间的轮换是不成文的规则”。这一切都很好，但这从来不是一场绅士般的一马赛跑。选择秘书长的历史告诉我们什么？主要是，它是一个政治雷区，特别是在该协会的规模扩大，其国际关系从一个危机到另一个危机的情况下。当英联邦秘书处的最初想法在1964年英联邦总理会议上出现时，诺拉·贝洛夫在《观察家报》上表示，几个非洲国家可能会提名资深加拿大外交官阿诺德·史密斯作为新秘书处负责人的候选人。在他的回忆录中，阿诺德·史密斯表达了惊讶--当然，他并不是第一选择。新西兰人阿利斯泰尔·麦金托什(Alistair McIntosh)获得了广泛的支持，但英国人突然提出了他们自己的候选人--一位来自英属洪都拉斯的默默无闻的州长。英国安全机构似乎否决了麦金托什，理由是他被认为是同性恋，这让他成为一个不可接受的安全风险。麦金托什辞职了，理由是他的耳聋越来越严重，3他的支持者将他们的支持转移到了史密斯身上。加拿大总理哈罗德·威尔逊于12月中旬访问渥太华，并于1964年12月要求加拿大总理莱斯特·皮尔逊提名阿诺德·史密斯，但直到次年3月，史密斯才接受。对于英联邦来说，幸运的是，在动荡的头十年里，“常规程序”找到了理想的候选人。当谈到考虑史密斯的继任者时
Choosing a new Secretary General for the Commonwealth has never been an easy business, and as Sandra Pepera’s recent opinion piece makes clear, 1 next November’s election is no exception. The recent friction between different camps and their rival candidates in the Caribbean was a stark reminder of the inevitable politicking that accompanies the selection process, as the issue was discussed, then yet again a decision was delayed, on the margins of the Cuba–CARICOM (Caribbean Community and Common Market) summit on 8 December. Looking back, it is striking how this Commonwealth infighting has been glossed over on the five previous occasions a Secretary General has been appointed: there are fleeting references to ‘many months’ of campaigning by rival candidates in the search for the ‘well qualified, high profile, and experienced’, but an assertion of ‘an unwritten rule of rotation between regions’. All well and good, but it never been a gentlemanly one-horse race.What does the history of choosing a Secretary General tell us? Principally, that it is a political minefield, especially as the size of the association expanded and its international relations lurched from one crisis to another. When the original idea of a Commonwealth Secretariat emerged at the 1964 Commonwealth Prime Ministers meeting, Nora Beloff suggested in The Observer that several African countries might be putting forward the veteran Canadian diplomat, Arnold Smith, as their candidate to head the new Secretariat. In his memoirs, Arnold Smith expressed surprise—certainly he had not been the first choice. 2 While there was nothing ‘so bold as active campaigning’,’the New Zealander Alistair McIntosh had had widespread support, before suddenly the British came up with their own proposed candidate, an obscure governor from British Honduras. It seems the British security establishment vetoed McIntosh on the grounds that his reputed homosexuality made him an unacceptable security risk. McIntosh stepped down, on the grounds of his ‘increasing deafness’, 3 and his backers transferred their support to Smith. Prime Minister Harold Wilson visited Ottawa in mid-December and asked Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson to nominate Arnold Smith in December 1964, although it was not until the following March that Smith accepted. Fortunately for the Commonwealth in that tumultuous first decade, the ‘usual processes’ turned up the ideal candidate. When it came to considering Smith’s successor in
DOI：
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发表时间：
2014
期刊：
影响因子：
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作者：
Sandra Pepera
通讯作者：
Sandra Pepera
时间的缝合：世界政治中的联合体
DOI：
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发表时间：
1983
期刊：
影响因子：
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作者：
Arnold Smith;C. Sanger
通讯作者：
C. Sanger
DOI：
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发表时间：
1988
期刊：
影响因子：
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作者：
Derek Ingram
通讯作者：
Derek Ingram