In the Ring: A Commonwealth Memoir
By: Don McKinnon
In the Ring deals with impossibly devious plots and characters – ambitious presidents and prime ministers from all corners of the world, some determined to hold onto power at any cost; a British government often with a misplaced sense of its own role in one of the world’s oldest organisations; and an organisation of 300 people, externally working to help the world while inwardly struggling along racial and geo-political lines.
You couldn’t make it up – and he hasn’t.
For the first eight years of the 21st century, Don McKinnon was the Secretary General of the Commonwealth and this was the stuff of his day-to-day life, whether facing down armed coup leaders or soothing internal staff factions. Here for the first time he reveals what was going on behind the scenes during such major events as the suspension of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth.
With fascinating background detail and his predictions for the future of the Commonwealth itself, this is a compelling account of the trials and tribulations of running an international organisation in a complex world.
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this book is probably the most important book on the modern Commonwealth ever.
- LJ Holden, New Zealand Republic -
In the Ring reveals Mr. McKinnon to be a man of considerable charm and a skilled negotiator of the various corridors of power where his career played out.
- Martin Rubin, Washington Times -
As a chronicle that is as frank in its content as it is wide in its telling of the inner workings of life in the ring of the Commonwealth, Don McKinnon’s memoir is compulsory reading.
- Sir Ronald Sanders KCMG AM