海角大神

Journalist Ravi Somaiya suggests in his new book that the United Nations secretary-general聽in the 1960s, Dag Hammarskj枚ld,聽paid a terrible price for his efforts to broker a cease-fire in the bloody civil war in Congo. Mr. Somaiya spoke with Monitor correspondent Randy Dotinga.聽

Q:聽What drew you to this story?

I came across this in an archive, and I just was just blown away. It鈥檚 a ripping mystery, and I love stories where people aren鈥檛 entirely good or entirely bad. It becomes so much more interesting when the characters are ambiguous.

Q:聽How did Congo become such a global hot spot?

It had the world鈥檚 most desirable uranium for purposes that both the Soviets and the West had in mind, and there were other vital minerals there. Then, it came to be strategically vital as the Cold War developed. It borders nine other nations and is really the heart of Africa.聽

Q:聽Hammarskj枚ld tried to bring peace to the region. What was his vision?

He felt that the Black majority deserved to rule after many decades of [colonial] oppression and brutality. It鈥檚 amazing to me just how incendiary a position that was in 1961 and how much it drove everyone absolutely crazy. He managed to annoy an enormous number of very powerful people.聽

What I love about him is that he鈥檚 one of the purest idealists I鈥檝e come across in any position of power. It鈥檚 very rare. He genuinely tried to do good and was also quite effective. You鈥檝e really cracked something if you can manage to apply idealistic principles in a meaningful way when surrounded by segments who oppose you.聽

Q:聽How did this Swedish economist become the head of the United Nations in the first place?

He didn鈥檛 seem like any sort of threat, and U.N. leaders just said, 鈥淕reat, shove that guy in, he鈥檚 not going to cause us any trouble.鈥� But in the end, he was both principled and willing to fight for his beliefs. Now, many diplomats say he represents the best of the U.N.

Q:聽What do you think would have happened in Congo if Hammarskj枚ld had lived?

I like to hope that we might have had a more peaceful resolution. To me, it鈥檚 about the original sin of colonialism. You can鈥檛 have that much murder and brutality and oppression without having some rage and division to overcome afterward. There鈥檚 still a lot of healing left to be done in the Congo.聽

Q:聽What is his legacy?

Moral leadership is principled leadership and idealistic leadership. Sometimes it鈥檚 OK to do the right thing. But I look around the world, and everyone seems to be trying to do what鈥檚 expedient. Our leaders seem to check the polls before making a decision.

Q: How close to the truth is your book in answering whether Hammarskj枚ld was murdered or died in an accident?

You can鈥檛 really know for sure until聽everything鈥檚 been revealed. Governments are still holding onto documents, and I can鈥檛 imagine why. I鈥檓 sure it鈥檚 for some silly reason like petty embarrassment.

Q:聽But we are getting closer, correct?

Reports from the U.N. coming out later this year are going to reveal more, and I鈥檓 also going to keep pushing. We鈥檝e gotten nearly all the way there. I don鈥檛 know if one can ever discover the truth in capital letters, but we can have the most honest, accurate accounting of what happened.