Not foreign to each other: Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conferences 1944-1969
Journal: Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) (University of Oxford)
Year: 2016

The Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conferences were a unique experiment. They were an attempt at an intermediate mode of multilateral relations: members were no longer bound in an imperial hierarchy, nor were they fully foreign. A conscious effort was made to position the Commonwealth as a family, and the Conferences as their periodic reunion. Avoiding a 'diplomatic' culture at the Conferences in favour of a familial veneer allowed participants to claim that binding resolutions were not necessary