Dag Hammarskjöld, the United Nations and Africa

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Acknowledgements This is the revised version of a paper presented at the Conference ‘Dag Hammarskjöld, the United Nations, and the end of empire’ organised by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Studies, University of London, the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and the United Nations Association (Westminster Branch) at the University of London on 2 September 2011. I am grateful for the suggestions by an anonymous reviewer, which helped to improve the text. Notes ‘Airport statement on return from African trip’, UN Press Release SG/895, 31 January 1960, in Cordier and Foote 1975b Cordier, A. W. and Foote, W. 1975b. Public papers of the secretaries-general of the United Nations. Volume V: Dag Hammarskjöld 1960–1961, Edited by: Cordier, A. W. and Foote, W. New York: Columbia University Press. 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Volume V: Dag Hammarskjöld 1960–1961, Edited by: Cordier, A. W. and Foote, W. New York: Columbia University Press. [Google Scholar], pp. 533–534. ‘Statement at the second session of the Economic Commission for Africa, Tangier, Morocco, 26 January 1960’, UN Press Release SG/890, 25 January 1960, in Cordier and Foote 1975b Cordier, A. W. and Foote, W. 1975b. Public papers of the secretaries-general of the United Nations. Volume V: Dag Hammarskjöld 1960–1961, Edited by: Cordier, A. W. and Foote, W. New York: Columbia University Press. [Google Scholar], p. 517. ‘Asia, Africa, and the West – address before the Academic Association of the University of Lund, Lund, Sweden, 4 May 1959’, UN Press Release SG/813, 4 May 1959, in Cordier and Foote 1974 Cordier, A. W. and Foote, W. 1974. Public papers of the secretaries-general of the United Nations. Volume IV: Dag Hammarskjöld 1958–1960, Edited by: Cordier, A. W. and Foote, W. New York: Columbia University Press. 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W. and Foote, W. New York: Columbia University Press. [Google Scholar], p. 544. Hammarskjöld defended his PhD with no less a person than Gunnar Myrdal as disputant, who disagreed with Hammarskjöld's arguments, but advocated awarding the highest mark for the undisputable quality of his analyses. ‘Last words to the staff – from remarks on staff day’, 8 September 1961, in Cordier and Foote 1975b Cordier, A. W. and Foote, W. 1975b. Public papers of the secretaries-general of the United Nations. Volume V: Dag Hammarskjöld 1960–1961, Edited by: Cordier, A. W. and Foote, W. New York: Columbia University Press. [Google Scholar], p. 564. See for this critical position Ludo de Witte, The assassination of Lumumba (London: Verso, 2001). Second Statement after Soviet demand for his dismissal, 13 February 1961, in Cordier and Foote 1975b Cordier, A. W. and Foote, W. 1975b. Public papers of the secretaries-general of the United Nations. Volume V: Dag Hammarskjöld 1960–1961, Edited by: Cordier, A. W. and Foote, W. New York: Columbia University Press. [Google Scholar]. See for this period and the unusual blunt intervention the comprehensive documentation in Madeleine Kalb (1982 Kalb, M. G. 1982. The Congo cables: the Cold War in Africa – from Eisenhower to Kennedy, New York: Macmillan. [Google Scholar], pp. 274–276). See for a critical analysis that shifts the blame from Hammarskjöld to some of his closest assistants, some of the chapters in Hill and Keller (2010) Hill, R. A. and Keller, E. J. 2010. Trustee for the human community. Ralph J. Bunche, the United Nations, and the decolonization of Africa, Edited by: Hill, R. A. and Keller, E. J. Athens: Ohio University Press. [Google Scholar]. For a concise overview on the different theories see Manuel Fröhlich (2008 Fröhlich, M. 2008. “‘The unknown assignation’: Dag Hammarskjöld in the papers of George Ivan Smith”. In Beyond diplomacy. Perspectives on Dag Hammarskjöld Critical Currents Series no. 2. 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