Comments on: Dag Hammarskjold – a Life Retold

By: James Arbuckle

James Arbuckle — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 04:49:54 +0000

Thanks, Georgios, for your insightful and helpful comments. Always good to hear from you!

By: Georgios Kostakos

Georgios Kostakos — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 14:55:41 +0000

Thank you, Jamie, for reminding us of the tumultuous start of UN peacekeeping and Dag Hammarkjöld’s role in it. I believe that Berggren’s book meant to shed light on the person of Hammarskjöld and his roots rather than the intricacies of international politics that Hammarskjöld so well mastered. In that sense it may indeed be seen as a hagiography rather than a political biography. As I believe you said / meant earlier, there is room and need for such hagiographies too, as long as they do not fully idealise and disconnect the “saint” from his context (and his dark / gray side?). But it is also good that you got the opportunity to remind us of the often dirty history of those decolonisation days. Writing this from Belgium I feel especially sorry for what happened in the Congo, and I am still waiting for a complete answer about what/who caused Dag Hammarskjöld’s death.

By: James Arbuckle

James Arbuckle — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 13:03:27 +0000

Thanks, Grant – you are much too kind, but I am glad you liked the piece.

By: James Arbuckle

James Arbuckle — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 13:02:29 +0000

Thanks, Alan, for your very insightful and useful comments. Nice to hear from you! All the best to Pam from both of us.

By: Grant McLean

Grant McLean — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 22:36:19 +0000

Thought provoking and well written with Jamie’s remarkable turn of phrase. I enjoyed reading this.

Thank you for sharing it with us.

By: Alan Henrikson

Alan Henrikson — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 20:09:14 +0000

Thank you for augmenting the UN phase of Dag Hammarskjold’s remarkable life with this authoritative and informative personal-professional account, with its emphasis on the operational aspects, of the origins of United Nations peacekeeping, with precise reference to the Charter framework and the respective
roles of the Security Council and General Assembly also. It is a valuable supplement to the diplomatic side of the subject regarding which, in the case of the Congo crisis, the United States through its ambassador, Edmund A. Gullion, played a significant part alongside the UN. This history is not without practical relevance today, as the reviewer rightly notes.