A force for peace : expanding the role of the UN Secretary-General under Trygve Lie, 1946-1953
The UN secretary-general plays an important political role in world politics, yet the UN Charter describes him merely as ~the chief administrative officer of the Organization~. How did such a development come about? The existing narrative tends to emphasise the contribution made by Dag HammarskjoÌld, the United Nation's second secretary-general from 1953 to 1961. This thesis argues that there are two problems with this narrative. First, it overlooks the precedents set under the first UN secretary-general, Trygve Lie, who was in office from 1946 to 1953. Second, it places too much emphasis on the personal role played by HammarskjoÌld, and fails to adequately consider the importance of institutional factors. The main empirical contribution of this thesis is to highlight the importance of precedents set during the first years of the UN's existence while Lie was secretary-general. Through his active stance on political issues in relation to Iran, Palestine, Berlin, Chinese representation, and Korea, as well as his consistently strong defence of the UN's unity and principles, Trygve Lie succeeded in carving out space for the secretary-general to act autonomously on political issues, which later secretaries-general
Ravndal, Ellen Jenny
World politics--1945-1955 ; Security ; International ; International agencies--Decision making
A force for peace : expanding the role of the UN Secretary-General under Trygve Lie, 1946-1953. The UN secretary-general plays an important political role in world politics, yet the UN Charter describes him merely as ~the chief administrative officer of the Organization~. How did such a development come about? The existing narrative tends to emphasise the contribution made by Dag HammarskjoÌld, the United Nation's second secretary-general from 1953 to 1961. This thesis argues that there are two problems with this narrative. First, it overlooks the precedents set under the first UN secretary-general, Trygve Lie, who was in office from 1946 to 1953. Second, it places too much emphasis on the personal role played by HammarskjoÌld, and fails to adequately consider the importance of institutional factors. The main empirical contribution of this thesis is to highlight the importance of precedents set during the first years of the UN's existence while Lie was secretary-general. Through his active stance on political issues in relation to Iran, Palestine, Berlin, Chinese representation, and Korea, as well as his consistently strong defence of the UN's unity and principles, Trygve Lie succeeded in carving out space for the secretary-general to act autonomously on political issues, which later secretaries-general
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