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Copyright by Brian Edward Mcneil 2014 Copyright by Brian Edward McNeil 2014 The Dissertation Committee for Brian Edward McNeil certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Frontiers of Need: Humanitarianism and the American Involvement in the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970 Committee: Mark Atwood Lawrence, Supervisor Toyin Falola Jeremi Suri H.W. Brands Thomas Borstelmann Frontiers of Need: Humanitarianism and the American Involvement in the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970 by Brian Edward McNeil, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2014 Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers? Psalm 94:16 For Noelle Acknowledgements No one ever told me that dissertations are built upon debts and broken promises. When I first entered the University of Texas at Austin in 2007 to begin my doctoral studies, I had a clear plan for finishing. I knew that I wanted to write on the United States and the Nigerian Civil War, which, as it turns out, was a good start. I promised my wife it would take five years to finish. Seven years later, I have completed my degree. Part of the reason for the delay was that I discovered that the Nigerian Civil War was a much larger event with much more import than scholars have realized. My dissertation required research on three continents and numerous cities: from Los Angeles, to London, to Lagos. I am indebted to a number of institutions and societies for graciously funding my travel. The Department of History continuously supported my work and provided a fellowship that allowed me to finish my writing with minimal distraction. The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations supported my research to national and international archives, and the John L. Warfield Center for African & African American Studies awarded me funds to go to Nigeria. The Margaret W. Moore and John M. Moore Research Fellowship allowed me to spend time at the Swarthmore College Peace Collection and return later to present my findings. More than the financial backing, I am indebted to the people I met along the way. I was surrounded by an energetic cohort of young diplomatic historians—too many to name—and mentors in the Department of History at the University of Texas who were eager to work with me. Megan Seaholm taught me what it meant to be an educator. H.W. Brands encouraged me to think big about my project early on. Toyin Falola was always there to support my work in any way that he could. Jeremi Suri came later to the vi University of Texas, but he nevertheless took me in as one of his own. While not a part of the faculty at UT, Tim Borstelmann enthusiastically joined my committee and provided feedback at crucial stages of my writing. My largest debt, however, is to Mark Lawrence. More than a mentor, Mark became a friend, which is more than I could have ever hoped for. Friends and family, too, supported me. I could not have completed this dissertation without the love and support from my parents, Hugh and Germaine McNeil. I met Thomas Zimmer in the archives only by chance, but he has been a constant source of reinforcement. Most of all, I am grateful for my wife, Noelle McNeil. Having her in my life has truly been a blessing. This dissertation is dedicated to her. Hopefully it will make up a little bit for that broken promise. vii Frontiers of Need: Humanitarianism and the American Involvement in the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970 Brian Edward McNeil, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2014 Supervisor: Mark Atwood Lawrence This dissertation focuses on American foreign policy toward the Nigerian Civil War, a conflict most famous for the images of starving women and children from the secessionist state of Biafra. In response to this unprecedented humanitarian crisis, more than 200 nongovernmental and voluntary organizations emerged in the United States alone, all calling for the U.S. government to intervene in the Nigerian Civil War. Despite this immense public pressure, policymakers in Washington were reluctant to violate Nigerian sovereignty and become involved in the conflict. This dissertation looks specifically at how American policymakers responded to this challenge from below and constructed a policy for the humanitarian problem that was designed above all to placate concerned citizens at home. By analyzing the American involvement in the Nigerian Civil War, this dissertation argues that the push for humanitarian intervention in the United States stemmed from a crisis of morality in American foreign relations during the 1960s. It reinterprets the 1960s as a period of moral crisis when many Americans questioned the morality of U.S. foreign policy and sought an alternative moral framework for America’s role in the world. For activists concerned about the Nigerian Civil War, humanitarian intervention represented a path for overcoming the perceived immorality of the Cold War. This dissertation, then, viii argues that humanitarian intervention abroad was primarily a domestic battle, one that revealed the fault lines of two competing conceptions of what should guide the future of American foreign policy. ix Table of Contents Introduction A Moral Paralysis ...............................................................................1 Moral Dissent and the Sixties .........................................................................7 The Narrative of the Civil War .....................................................................12 Chapter 1 The Struggle for Nigerian Unity ..........................................................17 Ethnicity in Nigeria .......................................................................................22 The Political Crises of the 1950s ..................................................................28 The West .......................................................................................................34 The Coups .....................................................................................................40 Conclusion ....................................................................................................57 Chapter 2 The Center Cannot Hold ......................................................................60 The United States and Africa ........................................................................62 Nigeria and the New Frontier .......................................................................68 Modernizing Nigeria .....................................................................................73 Maintaining the Myth ...................................................................................87 Playing the Odds ...........................................................................................92 Ending the Engagement ................................................................................94 The Massacres ...............................................................................................99 Conclusion ..................................................................................................106 Chapter 3 Things Fall Apart ...............................................................................109 Working the Backchannel ...........................................................................111 The Spirit of Aburi ......................................................................................114 On Aburi We Stand .....................................................................................120 The Nigerian Civil War ..............................................................................128 The Fighting Begins ....................................................................................138 A War on Two Fronts .................................................................................147 Markpress ....................................................................................................158 Conclusion ..................................................................................................166 x Chapter 4 The Moral Package .............................................................................169 A Vision of Better Things ...........................................................................172 The Moral Challenge of Biafra ...................................................................187 The American Committee to Keep Biafra Alive ........................................195 Conclusion ..................................................................................................210 Chapter 5 The Boiling Point ...............................................................................213 The Politics of Relief ..................................................................................215 Winning the War .........................................................................................236 The Imperialism of Humanitarian Aid ........................................................251 Planes ..........................................................................................................265 Conclusion ..................................................................................................274 Chapter 6 A Double Game ..................................................................................277 Crisis of the Utmost Gravity .......................................................................282
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