Dag Hammarskjöld’s career as the secretary general of the United Nations (1952–1961) coincided with the onset of African decolonization. Henning Melber’s book Dag Hammarskjöld, The United Nations and the Decolonisation of Africa attempts to probe Hammarskjöld’s personal views regarding both the UnitedNations anddecolonization.Melber challenges simplistic assessments of the power of the secretary general while also considering whether or not Hammarskjöld unduly colluded withWestern governments. Developed from lectures on the Swedish secretary general’s career, this study broadly considers Hammarskjöld’s ideas regarding the United Nations, great power politics, and the independence of African countries. It should not, however, be considered to be a thorough review of United Nations policies toward African states under Hammarskjöld’s leadership. Melber is at his best when analyzing the intellectual orientation of the secretary general and the historiographic debates about Hammarskjöld’s effectiveness. The reader certainly gains a convincing grasp of how Hammarskjöld’s internationalism and his sympathy for decolonization molded his policies as secretary general. Melber argues convincingly that Hammarskjöld distanced himself from Western governments and sought to maintain his office as an impartial actor in the Cold War. At the same time, themanifold limitations of theUnitedNations—particularly in trying to curb the excesses of powerful states—constrained Hammarskjöld’s ideals. Instead of castigating the UN for not doing enough to promote the end of colonial rule in the 1950s, the book contends the UN’s promotion of vaguely defined individual rights and internationalist cooperation proved to be useful tools for newly independent countries. There are some striking omissions. The decolonization of Africa does indeed rank behind Hammarskjöld and the United Nations here, just as the book’s title might indicate. Melber doesn’t spend much time on African actors, blaming in part “a lack ofAfrican voices andperspectives on record” in the relevant literature, thus rendering decolonization “a predominantly

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亨宁·梅尔伯。达格·哈马舍尔德，联合国与非洲的非殖民化。纽约：牛津大学出版社，2019 年。xii + 180 页。参考书目。指数。39.95 美元。布。国际标准书号：9780190087562。

达格·哈马舍尔德 (Dag Hammarskjöld) 担任联合国秘书长的职业生涯 (1952-1961) 恰逢非洲非殖民化的开始。Henning Melber 的著作 Dag Hammarskjöld, The United Nations and the Decolonization of Africa 试图探讨哈马舍尔德关于联合国和非殖民化的个人观点。Melber 挑战对秘书长权力的简单评估，同时也考虑哈马舍尔德是否与西方政府不当地勾结。本研究从关于瑞典秘书长职业生涯的讲座发展而来，广泛考虑了哈马舍尔德关于联合国、大国政治和非洲国家独立的观点。然而，它不应被视为对哈马舍尔德领导下的联合国对非洲国家政策的彻底审查。梅尔伯在分析秘书长的知识取向和关于哈马舍尔德有效性的史学辩论时处于最佳状态。读者当然可以令人信服地了解哈马舍尔德的国际主义和他对非殖民化的同情如何塑造了他作为秘书长的政策。梅尔伯令人信服地辩称，哈马舍尔德与西方政府保持距离，并试图在冷战中保持他作为一个公正参与者的职位。与此同时，联合国的诸多限制——特别是在试图遏制强国的过度行为方面——限制了哈马舍尔德的理想。与其谴责联合国在推动 1950 年代结束殖民统治方面做得不够，该书认为，联合国促进定义模糊的个人权利和国际主义合作被证明是新独立国家的有用工具。有一些明显的遗漏。非洲的非殖民化确实排在哈马舍尔德和联合国之后，正如书名所表明的那样。梅尔伯并没有花太多时间在非洲演员身上，部分归咎于相关文献中“缺乏非洲的声音和观点”，从而使非殖民化“占主导地位”