When we looked back at 1960s, there are so many events that had far reaching influence even to the international affairs today. One of the outstanding mysteries of the twentieth century, and one with huge political resonance, is the death of Dag Hammarskjöld and his UN team in a plane crash in central Africa in 1961.
After the WWII, the British Empire was gradually dismantled and so does many European dominance. Decolonisation and self-governance were granted to many former colonies. Alas minimal preparations had been made and many issues, such as federalism, tribalism, and ethnic nationalism, remained unresolved. Against this backdrop, United Nation was established in 1945 with the aim of preventing future world wars, succeeding the League of Nations, which was characterized as ineffective. It had 51 member countries initially, has now evolved into 193 member countries, the largest international organization.
Dag Hammarskjold, the Swedish economist and statesman who served as the second secretary-general of the United Nations (1953–61) and enhanced the prestige and effectiveness of the UN, were widely regarded as the man who built the United Nations. Hammarskjöld’s tenure was characterized by efforts to strengthen the newly formed UN both internally and externally. He led initiatives to improve morale and organisational efficiency while seeking to make the UN more responsive to global issues. He began his term by establishing his own secretariat of 4,000 administrators and setting up regulations that defined their responsibilities. He was also actively engaged in smaller projects relating to the UN working environment; for example, he spearheaded the building of a meditation room at the UN headquarters, where people can withdraw into themselves in silence, regardless of their faith, creed, or religion. He said, “Our work for peace must begin within the private world of each of us. To build for a man without fear, we must be without fear. To build a world of justice, we must be just“.
He presided over the creation of the first UN peacekeeping forces in Egypt and the Congo and personally intervened to defuse or resolve diplomatic crises. Hammarskjöld’s second term was cut short when he died in a plane crash while en route to cease-fire negotiations during the Congo Crisis. Hammarskjold’s Death Shocks The World (1961). Susan Williams, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study from University of London investigate the case and presented in Who Killed Hammarskjold?: The UN, the Cold War and White Supremacy in Africa. Another author who hold a similar view is Ravi Somaiya, a correspondent for the New York Times, who has covered Islamic extremist terrorism, disinformation, mass shootings, Anonymous, and Wikileaks, among other long-running stories, Ravi Somaiya unwrapped the mystery surrounding Hammarskjold’s death in his book Golden Thread:The Cold War and the Mysterious Death of Dag Hammarskjöld Hardcover – Illustrated, July 7, 2020. The book is an excellent synthesis of events and Congolese politics leading up to the fatal crash. It is an eye-opening account that could lead to renewed public interest in this tragedy. Russia Ukraine war had ignited the potential of world war three. With even more lethal nuclear weapons, Humanity is once again left our life in balance, reminds all of us the impermanence nature of life.
Dag Hammarskjold’s personal diary was published in the book Marking – the Enduring Spiritual Classics. A book of meditations. A revealing spiritual self-portrait by one of the great peacmakers of our times. This book tells almost nothing of his daily work, or of his thoughts about world events. Instead, it focuses on his struggle and changing relationship with God. It reveal the inner world of the man who struggled with making his every-day life fit with his spiritual beliefs. What a privilege to have been allowed to come so close to his thoughts, his soul, his own experiential experience of the Divine. It is not intended to provoke thoughts and philosophical wonderings within the mind of the reader, but instead to offer a view of someone who is connecting their soul rather than their mind, with God. Dag Hammersjold was a mystic – not a new agey kind of a guy, but a Christian mystic of the 20th century.
Maybe what Africa needs is not money – they are rich in nature resources, no need to be patronized by fiat money of digital currency or printing machine, after gaining hard-won independence from WWII. What Africa needs are the genuine spiritual support and empowerment of their independence. The Africans are in one the same as us, no more no less, close to God as us. The idea of colonization was never a moral achievement of the West in the past, nor will it be in the future.