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the ethics of dag hammarskjöld
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remain in my post during the term of my Office as a servant
of the Organisation in the interest of all those other
nations, as long as they wish me to do so. In this context
the representative of the Soviet Union spoke of courage.
It is very easy to resign. It is not easy to stay on. It is very
easy to bow to the wishes of a Big Power. It is another
matter to resist. As is well known to all members of this
Assembly, I have done so before on many occasions and
in many directions. If it is the wish of those nations who
see in the Organisation their best protection in the present
world, I shall now do so again.
This is how Dag Hammarskjöld responded to the demand for
his resignation as Secretary-General, made during the most
turbulent phase of the UN’s involvement in the Congo crisis
by his most powerful opponent, Nikita Khrushchev. The passage
is an interesting example of Dag Hammarskjöld’s characteristic,
almost ascetic way of performing the classical art of
public speaking. More interesting, however, is the substance
of this condensed passage, especially when it is interpreted in
its original context of one of the most dramatic General Assembly
meetings in the history of the United Nations. The
four short sentences – ‘It is very easy to resign’, ‘It is not easy
to stay on’, ‘It is very easy to bow’, ‘It is another matter to
resist’ – contain all the lessons learnt at a cost from his experiences
so far, during his seven years in charge of all United
Nations activities. At the same time they give a significant
testimony to his seemingly unconditional and unlimited willingness
to identify himself with the role of international civil
servant with no obligation towards anybody or anything except
the charter of the organisation he had consented to serve.
The personal virtue of courage, which the Soviet leader had
accused the Secretary-General of lacking, because he did not
comply with his request for an immediate resignation, was obviously,
for Hammarskjöld, the quintessence of the moral obligation
inherent in his office. That obligation could, according