Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: New Books in Human Rights
Episode: Henning Melber, "Dag Hammarskjöld, the United Nations, and the Decolonisation of Africa" (Hurst, 2019)
Description: Dag Hammarskjold was such a dynamic secretary-general that for years, the motto about him was simply âLeave it to Dag.â Only the second person to hold that post when he was elected, Hammarskjold did a great deal to shape perceptions of the UN. Consequently, evaluations of his legacy have tended to run the gamut, from extremely positive to bitingly critical. Hammarskjoldâs defenders see him as a paragon of virtue, one who did his utmost to defuse international conflict at a time when the Cold War and decolonization threatened to ignite wars at any given moment. Hammarskjoldâs critics accused...