The Round Table website’s highlights and most-read articles of 2022

The death of Queen Elizabeth II led to an unprecedented rise in interest in articles about the Queen and her role as Head of the Commonwealth.

The main articles you read from our new articles and our archives included:

• An article in the Round Table journal by the longest-serving Secretary General, Sir Shridath Ramphal, about the Queen’s lifetime work for the Commonwealth
• Tribute to the Queen by Sir Shridath Ramphal, and his article from 2021, on The Queen and her stand against racism in the Commonwealth.
• From Bagehot to Brexit: The Monarch’s Rights to be Consulted, to Encourage and to Warn
• The Queen is Dead! Long Live the President?
• The second Elizabethan era is over: time for Britain to take a hard look at itself

A special edition of the journal in July marking India’s 75^th independence anniversary also attracted a large readership:

• Special edition introduction to the India at 75 edition of the Round Table journal by guest editor Aparna Pande
• The Indian economy at 75
• The expanding role of majoritarianism in India
• The state of the Indian military: historical role and contemporary challenges

From China to Sri Lanka – what you’ve been reading

During the year, our readers’ preferences reflected geopolitical changes and the Round Table’s analysis of these changes, both current and from our vaults. They included India’s place in America’s world under the Biden presidency: decoding the China factor and a 2020 analysis of India–China relations – the present, the challenges and the future.

There was also much interest in articles and background analysis on issues making the news, including an opinion piece on the Appointment of new service chiefs in Nigeria: same old guards, this 2020 article on Judicial activism and the evolution of Pakistan’s culture of power and Sri Lanka’s developments in ‘Go home, Gota’: Sri Lanka unites against the Rajapaksas, Sri Lanka, one-time Asia’s role model becomes a bankrupt nation and Sri Lankans depose Rajapaksas – but how much will change?

While the Round Table Journal provides analysis six times a year of international news through the perspective of the Commonwealth, the Round Table website often allows reflections on immediate issues. In 2022 these included articles on the return of the Westminster Abbey ceremony for Commonwealth Day, an account of The Queen’s funeral by the chair of the Round Table’s editorial board, Victoria Schofield, the appointment of the UK’s first non-white prime minister, an on-the-ground reflection on what worked at COP 27 by editorial board member Carl Wright and more reflections, this time from Kigali and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, from Victoria Schofield.

Articles on climate change were of particular interest to our readers and our followers on Twitter. Here’s a taster of some of the articles:

• Indigenous peoples and climate change: Who pays?
• A 2021 research article on Building more common wealth in a climate changed world
• A “just” transition to green energy: The new Commonwealth challenge

In 2022, the Round Table website launched a new column called ‘Eye on the Commonwealth’. This replaced the previous ‘Commonwealth Update’ in the Round Table journal, which had moved to the Round Table website in 2021.

To view the range of topics dealt with in this column, click here.

Another editorial initiative has been the ‘From the archives’ series, agreed with our publishers, Taylor & Francis, to make archive articles of historical relevance available for a limited period to readers. In 2022 these archive articles ranged from Russia’s foreign policy to Commonwealth Games past. You can find these archive gems and what’s available on the website home page.

This has been a momentous year for the Commonwealth and the wider world and we’d like to thank our readers and Twitter followers for their interest in the Round Table’s coverage of it.

We look forward to joining you in 2023.