Abstract

South Asian leaders shaped the Commonwealth’s reorientation from an association grounded in British-derived ideals of representative government to an international organisation that expressed multiracial solidarity in the face of ideological fragmentation. This article fills a crucial historiographical gap by explaining how ideas motivated the new Asian members of the expanded and transformed Commonwealth. Balanced historical interpretation must give weight to both ideas and practice. Few scholars have studied systematically the ideas associated with the New Commonwealth, however. This article thus uses a wide variety of sources, biographical materials, letters and speeches, philosophical treatises, and diplomatic correspondence, to construct an understanding of South Asian political ideas and practices in the New Commonwealth. It examines and explains this interaction through four interpretative strands, identified here as East-West, Whig, realist, and national cultural. Each strand is explicated through crucial figures in the New Commonwealth and the Anglo-Asian past. In the 1940s and 1950s, South Asian ideas about politics and international relations came from shared historical sources and experiences, such as anti-colonial nationalism and Western education. The Commonwealth became an important place to frame and articulate these ideas, as it was flexible enough to accommodate them. South Asians recognised and built on these possibilities.

摘要

南亚领导人塑造了英联邦的重新定位，从一个以英国衍生的代议制政府理想为基础的协会，转变为一个在意识形态分裂的情况下表达多种族团结的国际组织。本文通过解释思想如何激励扩大和转型的英联邦中的新亚洲成员，填补了一个重要的史学空白。平衡的历史解释必须重视思想和实践。然而，很少有学者系统地研究与新英联邦相关的思想。因此，本文使用了广泛的资料来源、传记材料、信件和演讲、哲学论文和外交信函，以构建对新英联邦中南亚政治思想和实践的理解。它通过四个解释性的分支来检查和解释这种相互作用，这里将其定义为东西方、辉格、现实主义和民族文化。每一条线索都通过新英联邦和英亚历史中的关键人物进行了解释。在 1940 年代和 1950 年代，南亚关于政治和国际关系的思想来自共同的历史资源和经验，例如反殖民民族主义和西方教育。英联邦成为构建和阐明这些想法的重要场所，因为它足够灵活以容纳这些想法。南亚人认识到这些可能性并以此为基础。在 1940 年代和 1950 年代，南亚关于政治和国际关系的思想来自共同的历史资源和经验，例如反殖民民族主义和西方教育。英联邦成为构建和阐明这些想法的重要场所，因为它足够灵活以容纳这些想法。南亚人认识到这些可能性并以此为基础。在 1940 年代和 1950 年代，南亚关于政治和国际关系的思想来自共同的历史资源和经验，例如反殖民民族主义和西方教育。英联邦成为构建和阐明这些想法的重要场所，因为它足够灵活以容纳这些想法。南亚人认识到这些可能性并以此为基础。