The accession of six British Empire member states to the League of Nations questioned the Empire’s constitutional structure, and whether it was one entity or many. The resulting debate would form the doctrine of ‘inter se’ that attempted to rationalise the Empire’s new situation. Chapter Three delves into the frictions caused by separating the Empire’s international personality, as imperial federalists attempted to control and harmonise the foreign relations of the Empire, whilst Dominion leaders sought to use their newfound seat in Geneva to pursue their distinct foreign policies. As the Dominions began to gain full statehood, the chapter examines how the gulf between their membership at the League and that of India’s began to widen.

Population ageing coupled with a growing burden of disease and disability will cause long-term care needs to increase considerably around the world. Yet despite changing demographics, many countries do not invest adequately in long-term care systems. This chapter sets out the reasons that long-term care is often underprioritized by governments and begins to consider why countries need a re-think when it comes to the way they care for older adults.

Before the summer of 1914, there were seemingly few indicators that British colonies would be represented on the international stage as nominally separate entities, as they would be five years later. Chapter One charts the changing patterns of British rule that constituted the ‘Third British Empire’, and how new patterns of imperial governance were beginning to emerge in the newly formed Dominion of South Africa, that would put the Empire on a trajectory towards separating its international personality. This chapter will also examine how India, a colony with comparatively fewer of the self-governing institutions of the Dominions, would also accede to the Imperial Conference alongside the Dominions, a significant step towards membership of the embryonic League. Finally, this chapter will assess to what extent the participation of colonies at international organisations and conferences was normalised, and what precedents were employed to justify the presence of colonies after the War ended.

This chapter explores how common challenges facing long-term care systems across the world have given rise to common trends in the development of long-term care service delivery - a focus on improving integration, the shift from residential care to home- and community-based care, the growing role of the private sector in care provision and the emergence of digital technologies with transformative potential. Recent developments in five countries (Germany, Japan, Sweden, Norway, and Romania) are used to exemplify and distil overarching lessons for strengthening long-term care service delivery.

The demise of the League of Nations did not lead to the end of colonial membership at international organisations. Chapter Six examines how the League’s legacy of colonial membership continued under the United Nations. Despite not being fully independent, the Indian National Congress would appoint India’s delegation at the first General Assembly in 1946, resulting in a very different international personality. No longer constrained and gagged by British appointees and the imperial conference, India would aggressively pursue its longstanding grievances against South Africa, destroying the ideal of inter se, and effectively ending the British ideal of colonial membership at international organisations. Instead, this chapter reveals how the end of the legacy of colonial membership went beyond the British Empire, and was replicated by the Soviet Union in the accession of Soviet Belorussia and Ukraine. Neither of these member states would become independent until 1991.

This chapter examines the potential economic impact of investing in long-term care systems. Long-term care systems often indirectly burden informal caregivers, primarily women, leading to a significant loss of potential income and economic growth opportunities. Without adequately compensated, trained care professionals, it’s challenging for unpaid informal caregivers to increase their labour market participation. A comprehensive long-term care system must include support programs and policy changes that encourage both informal and formal caregivers to participate fully in the workforce, which is vital for economic growth and productivity.

This chapter reviews the strategies countries are employing to improve the quality of long-term care for older adults and assesses the impact of these approaches. Given that long-term care is a relatively new component of welfare systems, there is limited evidence on effective quality improvement measures. The scarcity of data on care quality in most countries further complicates the evaluation and comparison of these strategies. Despite these challenges, the chapter provides an overview of various quality improvement approaches, utilizing available evidence to understand their effects on the quality of long-term care.