The Suez Crisis and Dag Hammarskjöld’s Mediation: Biased or Balanced? A View from Cairo

Abstract

This article fuses existing theory on conflict mediation with new historical analysis and underused Arabic-language sources to evaluate Dag Hammarskjöld’s degree of partiality in the Suez Crisis, and the effect of this partiality on the developments. It finds Hammarskjöld was ‘partially partial’: he was partial in his prejudice and conduct, but impartial in his goal. Paradoxically, his ‘partial partiality’ allowed him to influence the policies of both parties effectively.