On 7/7/2003 5:34 PM, Silvio Franke wrote:

> Scott Reynolds schrieb:
> 
>>It is interesting to ask oneself, however, why today there is a
>>Commonwealth of Nations of which Britain and several former British
>>colonies are members, but no Japanese Commonwealth (or perhaps the term
>>should be Co-prosperity Sphere).
> 
> The answer is quite simple. Japan lost the war. Britain not.

I don't think so. What is to prevent Japan from organizing its own 
Commonwealth of Nations and inviting its former colonies to join? 
Nothing but the fact that the answer would be a resounding no from every 
country receiving such an invitation.

By the same token, what is to prevent current members of the British 
Commonwealth of Nations from pulling out of the organization, especially 
the ones that are sovereign nations in their own right? It seems to me 
that the Commonwealth members choose to remain in the organization 
because they perceive doing so to be in their own interest.

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Scott Reynolds                                      sar@gol.com