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THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

7 February 1997

Dear Ms. Thant, I wish to thank you for your kind letter of congratulations on my appointment as Secretary-General, and for the interesting material on your father you sent with it. The booklet on the history of U Thant's term as Secretary-General reminds one of the tumultuous circumstances surrounding his appointment, and of the courage with which he took on his new responsibilities. Of the many crises he had to contend with, some have, thankfully, faded into history, while others are still on our agenda today. I must hope to match U Thant's calm as we continue the search for workable solutions! Please thank your husband for his warm regards, and accept the best wishes of myself and Mrs. Annan for you both. Yours sincerely,

-* Kcrfi A. Annan

Ms. Aye Aye Thant Stamford, Connecticut JAN 3

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In a Restless World, a Man of Peace

CTr °t b.y / Aye Aye Thant

with Jessica Brackman Forward Wishes for Humanity

November 25th, 1993 marks the nineteenth anniversary of my father's death. On this occasion, I would like to share my I wish that men cease to hate and kill their fellow men for memory of him and my recollection of the tragic events that reasons of race, color, religion, nationalism or ideology; accompanied his funeral in Burma.

I wish .that more love, compassion and understanding guide the Father was a great inspiration to me and I was always very proud management of human affairs; of him. He was a truly genuine person, with no pretense at all. In my eyes, he was more than a leader: he was great human I wish that nations enrich each other in the art of governing men being, with heartfelt compassion for all humanity. In all realms in peace, justice and prosperity; of his life, he was dedicated to peace, tolerance and justice. Father's passing was a great loss to me. Even now, I miss his I wish that all nations unite to face with courage and presence. Though he is gone, I continue to feel his wisdom and determination the unprecedented worldwide problems that lie the profound example he set. These are with me always... in store for humanity; Now, years later, I look back in an attempt to understand just I wish that the immense progress achieved in science and what Fathers death meant — to me, to my family and to the technology be equaled in the spheres of morality, justice and people of Bvirma. In the account that follows, I trace the events politics; that transpired after his passing when we brought his body back to his motherland for burial. What we encountered there was a I wish that the world listen more attentively to the concerned tragic conflict between the students, who embraced my father's voice of youth; ideals, and a repressive, violent regime. My father's death invoked a call to freedom and a aithless government used force I wish that the leaders of the great nations of our time surmount to keep it down. their differences and unite their efforts for the benefits of all mankind. This fateful event, which later became known as "The U Thant Uprising," will never be erased in the conscience of the Burmese people. Today, the political climate in Burma U Thant continues to deteriorate. I feel that it is important to remember what happened in 1974 so we can perhaps get a better understanding of the current situation. But, in the end, this essay is more personal. It is written in the hope that my father's belief in morality, spirituality and human goodness will be remembered. I pray that these qualities, which he himself embodied, be a source of strength in the struggle for justice and human decencv in his beloved country. He had served as Secretary General for ten long years. Finally, he was looking forward to writing his memoirs and enjoying family-life with his grandchildren.

Then, in October of 1973, Father went to the doctor and was told that he had cancer. The doctor delivered the news in a blunt and insensitive manner. He was especially lacking in compassion and humility — two qualities my father cherished the most. Father was upset, but he put on a brave front and asked the doctor how much longer he might expect to live. The doctor wouldn't answer, but merely reiterated that Father's condition was "very serious." It was painful news for us all but Father was able, by virtue of his lifelong meditation practice, to achieve upekka or "detachment" to both his illness and the coolness of his physician. U Thant waves farewell as he steps down from his office of Secretary General, a post Reserved for ten years. Despite the seriousness of his disease. Father was able to December 22,1971 continue writing his memoirs, which he finished in March of 1974. I remember, with great pride, the way he diligently persevered during this time of great physical and emotional Last Journey of strain. It was one of many times that inspired me to hope I would someday take after him — that people might come to Burma's Illustrious Son regard me as, "my father's daughter."

Secretary General My father, U Thant, passed away at the age of sixty-five on Monday,.November 25, 1974. He was at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City and had been in a coma since My family, including parents, my younger brother and myself, morning. He awoke briefly at around one o'clqck in the came to New York from Burma in 1957, when my father was afternoon and, in an effort to comfort his family, he told us he appointed Burma's Ambassador to the United Nations. In 1960, was feeling better. Then he asked what time it was. These ! married U Tyn Myint-U, who was studying at a university here simple words became his last. Being a person of tremendous in the United States. The following year, when Dag self-discipline, my father had always respected time. It was therefore entirely fitting that Father should note the hour Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash over the Congo, before he took his leave. Father was elected Secretary General. Then, on May 21, 1962, we received the tragic news that my brother. Tin Mating Thant, Father had. been ill with cancer for just one year. There had was killed in a bus accident in Rangoon. been rumors earlier — in fact, many had speculated that he retired from the U.N. because of ill-health. But in actuality, he Throughout these events — both joyous and sorrowful — my was not sick at the time of his retirement in December of 1971. father maintained a stance of calm equanimity. As he later enemy of the regime and, as such, all officials were ordered conveyed in his memoirs (an excerpt from which I reproduce not to be friendly to him or supportive in any way. here), he was able through his spiritual practice, to achieve a substantial degree of detachment from the ups and downs of In actuality. Father had no involvement at all in U Nu's life. He'had a deep inner" peace that sustained him, whatever announcement. As the Secretary General of the United Nations, the outward circumstances might be. he could not participate in national politics and he always honored this responsibility. He was blacklisted by Ne Win's government, nonetheless and the following year, when he went U Nu Revolution: 1969 back to Burma and asked for permission to see General Ne Win,. he was refused. Father was disappointed by this, but in keeping with his general nature, he carried no ill feelings. My father started out his career as a teacher and then became headmaster of a school in Pantanaw, the town where he was In the period from 1970 to 1974, Ne Win and his deputies began born. The Superintendent of the school was U Nu, who later to realize that my father was not involved in U Nu's opposition became Burma's first Prime Minister. Through their affiliation and they softened to some degree. General Ne Win, however, at the school, the two of them became very close friends. When continued to give the impression that he wasn't friendly with Burma became independent and U Nu took office, he asked my father and he didn't want others to be. He didn't.want any of Father to become Secretary of Information and, later, Secretary his people to like my father, to extend favors to him, or to for the Prime Minister. Then, in 1962, U Nu was overthrown in convey their admiration of him in any way. Ne Win let it be a coup d'etat and General Ne Win took power. known that if someone did a favor for U Thant, or showed him special respect, they would be considered a traitor to Ne Win. In 1969, U Nu visited the United States. He contacted my To keep themselves in good favor, everyone therefore had to father in advance to arrange a meeting, but Father was conceal their admiration. scheduled, to be in Africa at the time of his arrival. Since U Nu was a close friend. Father arranged for my husband, UTyn In 1971, after my father retired from the United Nations, he Myint-U, to receive him at the airport. While he was in New realized-that his passport had expired. During his years of York, U Nu gave a press conference at the United Nations in service, he traveled on a U.N. passport so he hadn't looked at which he announced that he was going to stage a revolution his Burmese documents for quite some time. When he applied against Ne Win's government. When my father returned, he told to the Burmese government for a renewal, he couldn't get any U Nu that it was inappropriate for him to have held this action. What was really going on was that the officials were too conference at the U.N.. Never before had the United Nations scared to act. They feared that General Ne Win would be been used as a site for declaring a revolution. U Nu apologized angered if they assisted U Thant, so Father's passport just sat at for his indiscretion. the embassy for over a year. This is how Ne Win ruled the country. People were so afraid to offend him that they just froze, and did nothing. After waiting for some time. Father wrote to General Ne Win learned of U Nu's announcement and he General Ne Win asking for assistance. Shortly thereafter, he blamed my father. He came to believe that Father was received a reply that a new passport would be forthcoming and helping U Nu from behind the scenes and he conveyed to the then, in March of 1974, he finally received his renewal — three military and all government officials that my father was a years after his initial application. supporter of U Nu's opposition. Father therefore became an Lying in State at the United Nations

A moment of silence in the General Assembly upon the death of U Thant. November 25, 1974.

U Thant's casket lying in state outside the Meditation Room at the United Nations. November 26, 1914

Upon my Father's death, his body was laid in state in front of the Meditation Room at the United Nations. This was unprecedented and we considered the tribute a great honor. The U.N. flag was flown at half-mast and an emergency meeting on Cambodia's representation was postponed for twenty-four hours. The delegates stood for a moment of silence and then delivered eulogies. Secretary General Kurt Waldheim issued a statement in which he praised my father and credited him as "a man who gave of himself unstintingly to the cause of peace, progress and justice in the world."2

' Return to His Motherland

The United Nations flag at half-mast, While Father was very happy in the United States during his mourning the death oj I' Thanl. years at the U.N., he never lost his special love for Burma. We November 21, 1914. imagined that his final wish would he to return, so when he passed away, my family decided to bring him back to be buried funeral a school holiday. These two gestures of respect in his native land. We asked the Burmese government for were not met favorably by the government and U Aung permission, but received no formal response. Informally, Tin was promptly fired from his post. Others.who however, there were a number of indications that the conveyed their sentiments were similarly intimidated by government would cooperate with our plan. the government. In an effort to pay their respects without risking reprisal, a group of officials sent a floral wreath to On November 29th 1974, we set off on our journey. Traveling Father's casket, with a card signed in the name of: with me were my husband, my young son' and, as a "Seventeen necessarily anonymous public servants." representative of the new Secretary General, Chief of Protocol of the U.N., Mr. Sinan Korle. From New York, we boarded a Then the government went further and actually claimed commercial Pan Am flight bound to Bangkok, which made that my family had broken the law by bringing Father's several landings along the way. A number of Burmese body into the country. They even threatened to sue us on ambassadors met us at each stop, and then in Bangkok we these grounds. The Burmese people became aware of this chartered a Burmese plane to transport us, with Father's body, and grew irate at the government's total lack of respect. to Rangoon. December 1st through 5th: When we landed in Rangoon on Sunday, December 1st, the In State at Kyaikkasan Ground crowd at the airport was tremendous. Scores of people had assembled to pay their respects and convey their love for Father. We found it strange that no government officials were present and that no appropriate vehicle had been sent to carry Father's casket — but we made do, nonetheless. The coffin was loaded onto a truck that was provided by the United Nations Development Program (U.N.D.P.) office in Rangoon. Then it was driven to Kyaikkasan ground, where arrangements had been made for Father's body to be laid in state until burial.

As we drove toward the grounds, people lined the streets. Large crowds assembled to pay tribute, as Father's death was a great loss to them all. It was very emotional and many people (' Thant's casket lying in state at Kyaikknsan Ground. expressed their deep feelings. Some wept; some offered a December 1st to 5th, 1914- salute; some held their hands in the Buddhist gesture of kadaw. \ could feel their genuine devotion to my father and I was very proud. 1 was also overcome with sadness — that Father couldn't F'rom December 1st through 5th, Father's body lay in state be there himself to receive their love. at Kyaikkasan ground, where crowds of people came to pay their last respects, I expected the funeral to be held the While the people of Burma showed their overwhelming respect, day after our arrival, but my uncle warned me that it the government was conspicuously silent. Futhermore, any wouldn't be that easy. 1 soon learned for myelf that, in officials who showed interest or concern were penalized. The Burma, even the most simple activities required Deputy Minister of Education, U Aung Tin, came to meet us at complicated permits and negotiations. To arrange a funeral the airport — against official rule. In addition, he suggested at a or to build a tomb, one had to apply for required clearances cabinet meeting, that Burma declare the day of U Thant's and the process could often take several days. rest in peace! We can fight for what we want later on!" My A few days before the funeral, I went to visit the site where husband got out of the car and ran to see what was happening. Father was to be buried. My uncle had applied for a special What he found was that the students had stopped the hearse burial place, but the government refused. Instead, they offered that was to carry my father's body. Apparently, it was the same a small plot at the public cemetery. This was a great vehicle that had carried the body of General Ne Win's wife a disappointment, as we felt that Father deserved a more few years before and the students insisted that Father be dignified resting place. I felt uncomfortable asking for more, but treated with greater reverence. They were determined that his it was important to me and I found the courage to appeal. By body not be transported in the same car, so they forcibly suggesting that my brother, who was buried in another area of removed his casket and placed it on the back of a truck. the cemetary, be brought to the same site, I was successful at obtaining a larger plot. In Peace Eludes U Thant. a student activist recounts the situation with this vivid description: December 5th: First Attempt at a Funeral With the Dodge jeeps and loudspeakers leading the procession, the students lined up three abreast and began the march towards the Kyaikkasan grounds. Through the loudspeakers, the students announced to the huge crowd of people who lined the route: "Dear respected elders: We, the students are on our way to pay our tribute and accompany our beloved U Thant, the architect of peace, on his last journey."

The sympathetic crowd cheered the students and many were busy providing refreshments to the marching students. The burning heat and the dust-swept shelterless atmosphere had, . however, served only to intensify the gnawing People on the tray to U, Thant's funeral in Rangoon, DecettiberS, 1974. dissatisfaction and resentment against the shabby and perfunctory treatment, meted out to On the day the funeral was to be held, one of my cousins told U Thant's remains by the "regime." "Why, me she heard a rumor that Father's body was going to be seized. why," they thought, "could the authorities not This worried me, but as the day progressed, it seemed that accord U Thant a state funeral?"... The staid things were going smoothly. We had a traditional Buddhist and mournful atmosphere suddenly shattered ceremony and then each of us said our last good-bye. We when the students shouted: "A mausoleum for proceeded to our car and waited there for the procession. It was the father of peace. That's our goal!" The then that the commotion began. students had decided to take matters into their own hands to give their beloved U Thant a 1 heard my uncle shouting over the megaphone, "Please be funeral befitting a world's statesman and an 3 orderly! Don't do this! Let us bury I' Thant today so he may illustrious son of Burma. 11 10 There was a public outpouring of sympathy toward the students In another account entitled. Death of a Hero. Andrew Selth and the Burmese people applauded them for performing what presents another perspective. He intimates that my family was they felt was an honorable and courageous act. On the consulted by the students in advance and that, we, in essence University compound, huge crowds assembled and the students were accomplices to the uprising. He says, "The students gave speeches around the clock denouncing the government secretly sought and obtained permission from Thant's family to and Ne Win's one-party system. take the body away."4 Others have conveyed a similar view, implying that my family was supportive of what happened. This is entirely untrue. We were completely unaware of what was in December 7th: The Government Responds store for us that day. Our hope was for a peaceful burial and we had no idea what kind of chaos would ensue. On December 7th, the government came forth and offered an The students transported Father's body from Kyaikkasan alternative burial site. They announced that Father could have a ground to a hall situated on the campus of Rangoon University. mausoleum at Cantonment Garden, by the foot of the revered A student activist who participated in the event describes the Shwedagon Pagoda. They announced, however, that they would scene on campus: not provide him a state funeral. The students were outraged by this rejection. They threatened to take immediate action, but U Thant's casket was taken to the Convocation my family was able to calm them down. We convinced them Hall of the University and placed on a dais that a public funeral would be more appropriate than an official where monks chanted prayers and students one, because after all, it was the people, not the government, kept a vigil over the remains. The sprawling who had really honored Father. This argument seemed to make campus was filled with a sea of humanity as sense to them, in the moment at least. people from all over the city came to pay their respects to U Thant. Outside the Convocation In the next days, we became concerned for the safety of the Hall, the students took turns atop a bonnet of a students who had taken action. It seemed that the government car to deliver "Hyde Park-style" speeches might penalize those who had participated in the uprising, so against the regime. 5 we made an appeal that they be granted amnesty. We were pleased when the government approved our request. But on December 8th, the state-run newspaper misrepresented our December 6th: The Students' Appeal stance by announcing that my family would not take action on, "anything done in connection with the arrangements After taking Father's body to Convocation Hall, the students for U Thant's funeral." This story implied that my family was sent a letter to the government demanding a state funeral. They in an adversarial relationship with the students. Clearly, the wrote that if the government wouldn't comply, they would state was trying to polarize us and build disunity among the arrange a funeral of their own, in a style befitting a hero such as Burmese people. U Thant. At the site of the old Student Union, they began to build a "Peace Mausoleum," in which they would intern Father, After the government issued their proposal that Father be should the government not respond favorably. For materials, interned at Cantonment Garden, a meeting was held between they used construction supplies that were intended for an my family and a group of representative students and monks. extension on the University library.

13 12 There were seven students and two monks, and my family was "Victory! Victory!" and then we learned that the students, once represented by my husband, U Tyn Myint-U, and my uncle, U again, had taken events into their own hands. They had taken Thaung. A vote was taken on whether to accept the control of Father's body for a second time and, against all government's offer, or whether to keep his remains at the Peace command, they interned it in their Peace Mausoleum. Mausoleum that the students were building on campus. Both of my family representatives, the two monks, and three of the This time, we were even more concerned than before. The students voted to accept the government's site. The four government had informed us that if their proposal was not remaining students voted for the Peace Mausoleum. The final honored, they would be forced to take action. We feared this tally was seven to four and the outcome was therefore evident. might mean violence. In desperation, I continued to cry. I. .remember a man saying to one of the students, "Look at the My family was sympathetic to the students who wanted to hold face of U Thant's daughter!" I recall how tenderly the students out. We respected their desire to intern Father in a mausoleum looked at me; their faces softly acknowledging my sadness. The that would symbolize their commitment to peace and justice. It situation was out of control and there was nothing at all we pained us turn our backs on their dream. We, ourselves, didn't could do. We left the scene and resumed our anxious wait. This really want to accept the government's terms, but we wanted time, it lasted three days. the ordeal to be over and for Father to, at last, rest in peace. As a gesture of support for the students, we suggested that they place Father's casket temporarily upon the Peace Mausoleum December 11: Laid to Rest At Last they had built, before we transported it to Cantonment Gardens for final internment. Before dawn, on the morning of December llth, we were awakened by a phone call from the lobby of our hotel. We were December 8: A Second Aborted Burial asked to come downstairs immediately. We were suspicious of the caller and didn't respond, but then received a second call. The following day, as arranged, my family gathered at the This time, the person identified himself as a government University's Convocation Hall to escort Father's casket to official. He told us that Father's body had been retrieved and Cantonment Garden for burial. Thousands of people were was now at Cantonment Garden. He instructed us to go there assembled and they lined the route to the Garden. Father's immediately. We were still somewhat skeptical, so we called my casket was passed from shoulder to shoulder into the Peace uncle to determine whether or not we should go. He said we Mausoleum. We kneeled, said our last good-byes, and held our should, but that we should wait for daylight. hands in the Buddhist gesture of kadaw. \ was sober and composed, but then I remember seeing something very moving. At six o'clock, we left our hotel. We met with the officials in A young student was sitting near the mausoleum and he was charge, and they informed us that the military had gone in.to the crying. I was so touched that I, too, began to cry and from that Peace Mausoleum at four o'clock in the morning and captured moment onward, I couldn't control my tears. Father's body. I was afraid to ask the burning question of whether or not they used violence. I simply asked, "How did it As we waited for Father's casket to be brought to Cantonment go?" One of them answered, "Fine! We only had to use tear gas. Garden, we felt relieved that the long process was nearly over. See how wet my handkerchief is?" I was relieved and But then, we heard more commotion. There were cries of. murmured something like, "Oh, I'm so glad!"

15

SS35CS2SSE3H5 Later, I heard reports by various eyewitnesses that the army had, in fact, resorted to violence. The military forcibly invaded Epilogue the campus and many students were killed. In Death of a Hero. Andrew Selth recounts what happened: Because of her ill-health, my Mother hadn't come to Burma for It all started at about two o'clock in the Father's burial. She had stayed behind in New York City and morning, while most of the protesters were was largely unaware of the events as they transpired. There was asleep. About a thousand soldiers and fifteen coverage on the news, but friends, fearing for her health, had platoons of police stormed the University tried to shield her from the drama. Later, she told us that she grounds. The main gate was first broken by a had sensed something was going on. She could tell that large crane and the riot police moved in, easily something was wrong from the looks on people's faces. But her overwhelming the young guards. The students main concern was for our safety and she was relieved when we and monks put up a brief struggle, calling all returned home. through loudspeakers for the security forces to join them in their protest. The inevitable When we finally explained 'to her what had happened, she said victory for the government, however, came there was no reason to feel sad. "The students were honoring quickly... By three o'clock, the campus was your father." she said. "For this, we should be grateful." completely under control of the security forces. Mother's words consoled me and through them, I was able to About twenty-nine hundred people were overcome my despair. I came to see what had happened as a rounded up and roughly herded together. By tribute of honor to my beloved father. With that perspective, I four o'clock, U Thant's casket was retrieved and was able to find some peace. escorted under heavy guard to the Cantonment Gardens. 6 Since 'then, I have been back to Burma on a number of occasions. Through these visits, I have witnessed the continued deterioration of the country. While, during the "U Thant At the time, I was unaware that this terrible tragedy had Uprising" in 1974,1 saw the situation as isolated and personal in occurred. It -pains me to imagine that a government would nature, in later years it became clear to me that it was a deeper launch such a horrible attack on its own people and I pray for all political issue. In 1988, I saw the cruelty with which the who lost their lives. government crushed peaceful and unarmed demonstrators who were asking for democracy. This hit me very hard and I felt that, After meeting with the officials, my husband and I went to finally, I had to take a stand. Cantonment Garden for the long awaited funeral. My uncles were already there and we assembled for the service. From the Father was a great believer in democracy. He believed that, strain of all we had been through, I again began to cry. One of "freedom of belief, freedom of conscience, freedom of my uncles turned to me and whispered, "Don't cry anymore. association, and the freedom to choose your own lawmakers," This time will be the last." And then, as the army poured are among the highest of values; that they are essential to "the cement over Father's tomb, I realized that, finally, it was. growth of human freedom, human happiness and human genius."7 In tribute to Father's memory, I pledge my support to Burma's democracy movement and look to the a day when our people can live in freedom and peace.

16 17 Final Resting Place The resulting structure is beautiful, though somewhat less grand than we had hoped. But what is more disappointing to us is the fact that our dream of a peaceful U Thant mausoleum is During the period when they held my father's casket, the yet to be realized. students raised a sum of money to build a mausoleum. It was 150,000 kyats, now equal to about $25,000 U.S. dollars (at the official rate). When the government took over and brought Father's body to Cantonment Garden, the students turned over this sum to my family, with the instruction that we use it to build a mausoleum there. My husband, together with Burmese architects and artists, drew a plan and we created a U Thant Mausoleum Committee to oversee the construction.

U Thant, interned at Cantonment Garden.

We have tried, on numerous occasions, to visit the inside of Father's tomb, but each time, the government has made this impossible. The structure and surrounding grounds have been neglected over the years and, on our last visit, we found the mausoleum sorely in need of repair. Recent reports tell us, Original plan for U Thant's Mausoleum at Cantonment Garden, at the foot of Shwedagon Pagoda. however, that the government has made efforts to clean it, in conjunction with an overall plan to beautify Rangoon. We wish this were indicative of real improvement, butmore likely, it is simply a cosmetic gesture to impress foreign visitors. Our concept was to build a stucture in traditional Burmese style. We wanted it to have a raised slab that would elevate the Father is now in good company at Cantonment Garden. Both mausoleum and make it visible from a distance. 'We hoped to Queen Supayalat, the last queen of Burma, and Say a Thakhin create a peaceful environment, where people would come for Kodaw Hmine, the nationalist leader during Burma's inspiration, or simply to sit and think. What was ultimately built independence movement have been buried there. And, in 1988, was more modest than our original plan. The government, who he was aditionally joined by Madame Aung San, the wife of had controlled the funds for the project, ran out of money General Aung San and mother of Burma's Nobel Laureate, Daw midstream, and they elected to simplify the construction. Aung San Sun Kyi. As a Buddhist, I was trained to be tolerant of everything except intolerance. I was brought up not only to develop the spirit of tolerance, but also to cherish moral and spiritual qualities, especially modesty, humility, compassion, and, most important, to attain a certain degree of equilibrium. I was taught to control my emotions through a process of concentration and meditation. Of course, being human, and not yet having reached the stage of ara/iant or arhat (one who attains perfect enlightenment), I cannot completely "control" my emotions, but I must say that I am not easily excited or excitable.

To understand my religious background, a brief explanation of certain ethical aspects of Buddhism will be necessary. Among the teachings of the Buddha are four features of meditation, the primary purpose of which is the attainment of moral and spiritual excellence: metta (good will or kindness), karuna (compassion), mudita (sympathetic joy), and upekka (equanimity or equilibrium). I' T/iaiit with his mother, Daw Them Tin, In meditation at Shwedagoa pagoda during 1964 visit to Bunna. A true Buddhist practices his metta to all, without distinction; Buddhists need to apply in their daily lives the teachings of metta even to those whom they have never seen before, and will not see afterwards. "Just as the sun shines on all, or the rain falls Ho\v Did I Conceive My Role? on all, without distinction," metta embraces all beings impartially and spontaneously, expecting nothing in return, not An excerpt from II Thant's autobiography, even appreciation. Metta is impersonal love or good will, the View From The UN opposite of sensuous craving or a burning, sensual fire that can turn into wrath, hatred or revenge when not requited. A true Buddhist has to practice metta to friends and foes alike. Many people have asked me how I felt at the time of my appointment as Acting Secretary General. They have been Karuna (compassion) is the second aspect of Buddhist invariably surprised to learn that I did not feel the way most meditation that all true Buddhists are expected to practice. This people would have felt in similar circumstances. To understand quality of compassion is deeply rooted in the Buddhist concept my feelings — and my conception of the role of Secretary of suffering. Human life is one of suffering; hence, it is the duty General — the nature of my religious and cultural background of a good Buddhist to mitigate the suffering of others, not only must first be understood. I should therefore like to outline not in his thoughts but also in practice. He shows his compassion or only my religious beliefs, but also my conception of human pity to all, be they living in this or in another world... The institutions and of the human situation itself. regular practice of compassion opens one's mind to the "Noble

20 21 Truth of Suffering" and its origin. For Buddha has taught us that suffering originates in craving and ignorance. Hatred, for some kind of mystic or mysterious thought, or going into a instance, is the root of all evil. trance. Such misunderstanding is mainly due to the lack of a suitable English word for the original term bhavana, which Mudita (sympathetic joy) can best be defined as one's means mental culture or mental development. The Buddhist expression of sympathy with other people's joy. The happiness bhavana aims at cleansing the mind of impurities, such as ill of others generates happiness in the mind of a good Buddhist. will, hatred, and restlessness; it aims at cultivating such qualities Melancholy and 'pessimism have no place in the Euddha- as concentration, awareness, intelligence, confidence, and dhamma or dhartna (the cosmic and moral law governing the tranquillity, leading finally to the attainment of the highest world, as formulated by the Buddha in his teachings). One's life wisdom- gains in joy by sharing in the happiness of others, as if that happiness were one's own. The person who cultivates altruistic It is far from my intention to claim that I have reached a very joy radiates it over everyone in his surroundings, and thus high stage on the path to attainment of the highest wisdom, or everyone enjoys working and living with him. The practice of that I have attained complete "inner peace." I can claim, mudlta not only dispels our worries and frustrations but however, that I practice bhavana every day. I try to cultivate the strengthens our moral fiber. Thus, a true Buddhist is expected ethical aspects of Buddhism, and I believe that I have attained a to pray for the happiness of all human beings. By practicing greater degree of equilibrium than most people. This explains mudita, one automatically renders important service to the why I received the tragic news of the sudden death (in a traffic entire community. accident) of my only son. Tin Maung Thant, on May 21, 1962, with minimal emotional reaction. For are not birth and death Upekka (equanimity or equilibrium or detachment) connotes the the two phases of the of the same life process? According to the acquisition of a balance of mind, whether in triumph or tragedy. Buddha, birth is followed by death, but death, in turn, is This balance is achieved only as a result of deep insight into the followed by rebirth. nature of things, and primarily by contemplation and meditation. If one understands how unstable and impermanent The same minimal emotional reaction applied to the news all worldly things and conditions are, one learns to bear lightly brought to me on September 23, 1965, by the Norwegian even the greatest misfortune that befalls one or the greatest permanent representative, Ambassador Sivert Nielsen, that it reward that is bestowed on one. This lofty quality of even- was the intention of the Nobel Peace Committee in Oslo to mindedness or emotional equilibrium is the most difficult of all award me the coveted prize for 1965. He showed me the letter ethical virtues to practice and apply in our hectic world. To addressed to him by the Nobel Peace Committee. My response" contemplate life, but not to be enmeshed in it, is the law of the was: is not the Secretary General merely doing his job when he Buddha. works for peace? After Ambassador Nielsen left my office, my thoughts wandered to those who were more deserving of that To achieve upekka, one has to meditate. The Buddha's teaching prize than myself — those whose life-long preoccupation has regarding meditation aims at producing a state of perfect mental been the peace of the world, the welfare of mankind, and the health, emotional equilibrium, and tranquillity. But this concept unity of the human community — people like Paul Hoffman, of Buddhist meditation is very much misunderstood, both by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, and many others. In any event, it was Buddhists and non-Buddhists. The word "meditation" is most gratifying to learn that UNICEF (the United Nations generally associated with a particular posture, or musing on Children's Fund), whose accomplishments in the humanitarian field no one questions, was the recipient of that prize.

22 25 In the course of my statement made on that day, I said: life to the affirmation of man alone; man's ethics must not end UNICEF originally came into existence as an with man, but should extend to the universe. He must regain the emergency fund for children. It lost its emergency consciousness.of the great chain of life from which he cannot be character long ago and has now become separated. Schweitzer preached the necessity of "the will to live established as one of the most meritorious agencies an ethical life," which should be the primary motivation of man, of the United Nations which has earned the and he said life should be for a higher value and purpose — not unstinted support of men and women all over the spent in merely selfish or thoughtless actions. What then results world. Its devotion to the welfare of children and for man is not only a deepening of relationships, but a widening of mothers everywhere reflects a concern for the relationships. younger generation which we all must share. If Maurice Pate had been alive today, this would Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a Jesuit priest as well as an surely have gladdened his heart, because, in a eminent biologist and profound thinker. I do not know whether sense, this is a posthumous tribute to his selfless he ever used the phras.e "reverence for life," but his writings work as Executive Director of UNICEF for so leave no doubt in my mind that he perfectly understood it, for he many years. shared with Schweitzer the same prayers and hopes for a troubled world. Like, Schweitzer, he called for an assertion of a new ethical My religious belief and practice alone, of course, alone did not imperative in man as well as within the churches. In an address constitute the sole basis of my actions as Secretary General of the on New Year's Day, 1932, he said, "May joy dwell in our hearts United Nations. My personal conception of human society also and all around us. May what sorrow cannot be spared us be had something to do with the way I functioned. First of all, I am transfigured into.a finer joy, the joy of knowing that we have always conscious of the fact that I am a member of the human, occupied each his own station in the universe, and that, in that race, and I am very jealous of my membership. This station, we have done as we ought." In The Phenomenon of Alan, he consciousness prompts me to work for a great human synthesis, wrote, "Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a which is the implicit goal of the World Organization I had the way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and privilege of serving. joins them by what is deepest in themselves." He said further, "A universal love is not only psychologically possible; it is the only The ideal of human synthesis has been developed by almost all complete and final way in which we are able to love." great religions. In regard to the ethical concepts of life that help bring such an ideal to realization, Albert Schweitzer and Pierre This concept of universal or planetary man is of course not new. It Teilhard de Chardin, among Western thinkers, had powerful ideas has been the central theme of great religious leaders and and have been important influences on me. philosophers for thousands of years.

In his Philosophy of Civilization, Schweitzer first presented the Long before I was appointed Secretary General, I used to dwell at ethic of "reverence for life" — a theme consistently featured in some length in my public sentiments, as well as in private his life and thought, and the central core of most of his speeches conversations, on the oneness of the human community. If there and conversations. Although from time to time he met resistance is one thing that I find objectionable, it is generalizing about to his philosophy from a section of the religious establishment, he whole peoples — saying, for instance, that all Asians or Africans or stubbornly pressed to drive home his point, and developed the Europeans or Latin Americans are good or bad, brave or timid, cultured or wild. When we apply such adjectives to nations or theme to encompass wider horizons. Man, he said, must not limit groups of nations, what we are in fact doing is describing our own emotional reactions to those who have our approval or disapproval. The plain fact is that no single group of people can With this background and this conviction, I learned to cherish be categorized in general terms. tolerance long before I came to New York. And tolerance is the principal foundation on which the United Nations Charter rests. It is generally assumed that there is one civilization in the East Without the spirit of tolerance, one cannot understand, much and a quite different one in the West, resulting in seeds of less appreciate, the Charter. "To practice tolerance and live tension or conflict between the peoples of these different together in peace with one another as good neighbors" is the geographical regions. This concept is a fallacy. The distinction actual language of the Charter, and one of the primary functions of civilization into Eastern and Western types seems to me of the Secretary General is not only to practice tolerance in his almost meaningless. As I noted in a public speech many years personal'dealings, but also to extend this concept of tolerance to ago, I seriously question whether tension or conflict between international relations. In other words, my conception of the' one people and another ever arises from conflicting viewpoints Secretary General's role is to build bridges between peoples, in their respective cultures or civilizations. England and France, governments and states. This is why my main, preoccupation or France and Germany, may be said to share the same during my tenure of office was not only co bring about a detante civilization and profess the same Christianity, yet they had been between differing nations, but also to eliminate the obstacles to at war off and on for centuries. Conflicts between nations or such a detante. individuals generally arise, not out of different viewpoints in their civilizations, not from reasons of their traditions and In some cases, I have succeeded in building bridges, or in history, but from uncivilized elements in their character. eliminating tensions and conflicts between nations. Major examples of such successes were my efforts to mediate the To me, civilization connotes a mental and spiritual excellence, conflicts between Cuba and the United States in 1962, and just as health means a certain physical excellence. Health does between India and Pakistan in 1965. Some of the minor ones not mean one thing for an American and another for a were the conflicts between the Netherlands and Indonesia, the Burmese. Similarly, civilization should mean one and the same Philippines and Malaysia, and between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. thing for all. To me, there is no difference between the I also successfully mediated disputes between Yemen and Saudi civilization of the American Adlai Stevenson and that of Arabia, Spain and Equatorial Guinea, Algeria and Morocco, and Russian V. V. Kuznetsov, nor between the civilization of the Morocco and Mauritania. In addition, I could claim success in Israeli Michael Comay and that of the Egyptian Omar Loutfi. disputes between Nigeria and some of the African states, between Ruanda and Burundi, and Thailand and Cambodia.

When we speak of the civilization of a country, we are apt to In other cases I have not succeeded: instances of relations that suppose that all the people of that country are civilized in have hot improved are those between Israel and the Arab more or less the same way, but in reality the different nations, the United States and (as of this writing) North individuals of the same country are not civilized in the Vietnam, Cyprus and Turkey, South Africa and must of the same way or to the same extent. A Burmese of mental and African states. Southern Rhodesia and most of thf res! of Africa, spiritual excellence will not differ essentially from an and last but far from least, China and the rest of the American of such excellence, but they will differ widely in ternationalcomm unity. from their relatively uncivilized compatriots in their own countries. This principle applies equally to Americans, Some of the successes and failures can be attributed to what is Russians, Chinese, or Burmese. generally called the exercise of the good offices of the Secretary General. Others are attributive to the deliberative organs of the

2h 27 United Nations, such as the Security Council and the General Assembly. There were occasions when the Secretary General Tribute to U Thant could act without the guidance of the principal deliberative organs; there were other occasions when the Secretary General could not act alone. In all eases, the Secretary General can never exercise his good offices without the consent of the parties primarily involved. This brings me to my concept of the For ten years, U Thant guided the United Nations through a Secretary General's role, which has its basis, of course, not only period of change and turbulence. Throughout that time, his in my cultural and religious background, but in the Charter, and words and his calm but resolute personality were vital factors in in the experience and practices of my two predecessors. critical situations

Jie never hesitated to express himself strongly and forthrightly, especially on matters of principle, yet he retained the confidejicje of all member states throughout his period of Notes service. > ,\

crisis and in the development of the econ£mAc/aml social work of the organization, he displayed 1 I! Thant, Address to'mark the twentieth anniversary of the signing courage a,ad. total 4edication to the United Nations in disregard of the United Nations Charter " of any'pTiv^te interest or even of his own well-being. ~ ' 2 Statement by the Secretary General upon the death of U Thant We shall all remember him as a man who gave of himself unsfintingly'to the cause of peace, progress and justice in the 3 Peace Eludes U Thant. world.* *?->' 4 Selth, Andrew Death of a Hero : The U Thant Disturbances in Burma. December 1974 Siatement by the Secretary General .5 Peace Eludes U Thant. upon the death of U Thant

6 Selth, Andrew Death of a Hero.

7 U Thant.(Press Conference, September, 1962)

Epilogue U Thant, View From the UN (New York: Doubleday & Co. 1978)

28 29 have to cultivate what is best in us; that is, we have to try to develop the moral and spiritual qualities, such as tolerance, patience, humility, the philosophy of "live and let live," a desire to understand the other person's point of view.

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View from the UN and other writings and speeches by U Thant, Secretary-General of the United Nations (1961-1971)

Selected by Aye Aye Thant Preface

In the introduction to his book View from the UN my father wrote, "it is my hope to present these memoirs not merely as one person's private story, but also as a world peace program — a proposal for the future global society."

It has been almost twenty years since my father wrote his book. In it he painstakingly sought to record the turbulent decade during his tenure as the Secretary-General of the United Nations. He not only recorded and surveyed the international conflicts during his tenure from 1961 to 1971, but he also attempted to survey the role of the United Nations and the Office of the Secretary-General in world affairs.

When he wrote his book, my father was ill with cancer. Despite his failing health, he finished writing it in March of 1974. With strong inner faith he bore his illness undauntedly. His courage and unfaltering optimism have been a constant source of inspiration for me. My father did not live to see his book published.

With the fall of communism in the former Soviet Union, the specter of nuclear war seems more remote today. However, my father's concern for humanity and his call for a just economic world order are still relevant today.

Therefore it is my hope that this photo essay, with excerpts from his book and from his speeches and his writings, will "spur us on to work for a better future" as we honor his memory on the 85th anniversary of his birth.

Aye Aye Thant 22 January 1994 Cambridge, Massachusetts It was a cloudy Monday morning on September 18, 1961, when, just as I was about to leave for my office, news came on the radio that Dag Hammarskjold, while en route to a crucial meeting concerning the former Belgian Congo, had died the day before in a plane crash near Ndola in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). I was stunned with shock and disbelief. My first thoughts on hearing the news were centered on the United Nations and the future of the Congo operations.

Ambassador U Thant, Permanent Representative of Burma to the United Nations, conferring with Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold at the United Nations. Nations circles and close to the late Secretary General. I was among the first to suggest these names to several delegates. Therefore, to my surprise — and I believe to the surprise of everybody else — the New York Herald Tribune came out on the morning of September 20 with a story that I had emerged as the leading candidate to succeed Dag Hammarskjold. ... To all who asked me, I expressed no interest in the post. My only concern at that time was to help in the choice of a successor to Dag Hammarskjold, and to bring about political reconciliation in the Congo as the chairman of its Conciliation Commission. ... The Security Council met at 11:00 A.M. on November 3, 1961 in a closed session and unanimously recommended me as Acting Secretary General. The General Assembly met at 3:30 P.M., when by a secret ballot of the entire membership, U Thant takes oath of office as Acting United Nations Secretary-General, November 3, 1961. I was unanimously appointed to serve the unexpired term of Mr. Dag Hammarskjold (until April 1963). ... But it was the choice of a successor that occupied the minds of all delegations. Three names were freely mentioned as possible candidates: Ambassador Slim of Tunisia, who was the only elected official of the session; Ambassador Frederick H. Boland of Ireland, president of the previous session; and Ambassador Ralph Enckell of Finland. All three were very able diplomats, highly respected in United On the United Nations

... Great problems usually come to the United Nations because governments have been unable to think of anything else to do about them. The United Nations is a last-ditch, last-resort affair, and it is not surprising that the Organization should often be blamed for failing to solve problems that have already been found to be insoluble by governments. More often than not, the United Nations is criticized for failing to resolve a crisis or to enforce an action. It is not generally realized that the failure of the United Nations is the failure of the international community, and the failure to enforce an action is due to the refusal of the party or parties concerned to comply with the Organization's decisions. Unlike its constituents, the Security Council debates on the situation in the Congo, 24 November 1961. Organization lacks the attributes of sovereignty, and its Secretary General has to work by persuasion, argument, negotiation, and a persistent search for consensus. On Being Secretary General

... In the exercise of the good offices of the Secretary General, the less publicity there is during these efforts, the more successful they are likely to be. This quiet method of forestalling conflict seems to me to be a part of the Secretary General's role. On the other hand, a quiet approach that avoids a public confrontation may often hold some hope of success.

Security Council debates on Southern Rhodesia. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson, Permanent Representative of the United States, conversing with Secretary-General U Thant. reached the stage of arahant or arhat (one Burma won her independence only in January How Did I Conceive who attains perfect enlightenment), I cannot 1948, and became a member of the United completely 'control" my emotions, but I Nations three months later. The outstanding My Role? must say that I am not easily excited or difference that distinguished me from all excitable. other Secretaries General of the League of Nations or of the United Nations lay in the My religious belief and practice alone, of fact that I was the first non-European to course, did not constitute the sole basis of occupy that post. Burma had been a colony of my actions as Secretary General of the Great Britain for almost a century. Both the United Nations. My personal conception of League of Nations and the United Nations up human society also had something to do with to 1961 had been Western-oriented. In fact, the way I functioned. First of all, I am the League was almost exclusively a o understand my feelings - and my always conscious of the fact that 1 am a European club. Not only do I have my own set T conception of the role of Secretary member of the human race, and I am very of values, which are different from those of General - the nature of my religious and jealous of my membership. This all my predecessors, but I also had first- cultural background must first be consciousness prompts me to work for a hand experience of colonialism at work. I understood. I should therefore like to outline great human synthesis, which is the implicit know what hunger, poverty, disease, not only my religious beliefs, but also my goal of the World Organization I had the illiteracy, and human suffering really mean. conception of human institutions and of the privilege of serving. human situation itself. In the fifties, I found myself increasingly As a Buddhist, I was trained to be identified with the cause of small nations, tolerant of everything except intolerance. I poor nations, newly independent nations, and was brought up not only to develop the spirit nations struggling for independence. So my of tolerance, but also to cherish moral and conception of the United Nations was spiritual qualities, especially modesty, primarily from the vantage point of the Third humility, compassion, and most important, World. to attain a certain degree of equilibrium. I was taught to control my emotion through a I came from one of the newly independent process of concentration and meditation. Of countries that was not one of the original course, being human, and not yet having fifty-one members of the United Nations. ... In matters relating to international peace and security, however, two simple considerations are inescapable. First, the Secretary General must always be prepared to take an initiative, no matter what the consequences to his office or to him personally may be, if he sincerely believes that it might mean the difference between peace and war. In such a situation, the personal prestige of a Secretary General — and even the position of his office — must be considered to be expendable. The second cardinal consideration must be the maintenance of the Secretary General's independent position, as set out in Article 100 of the Charter, which alone can give him the freedom to act, without fear or favor, in the interests of world peace. Such independence does not imply any disrespect for the wishes or opinions of member governments. On the contrary, Assembly appoints U Thant for 2nd term as Secretary-General. At right is Assembly President Abdul Rahman Pazhwak his independence is an (Afghanistan) calling the meeting to order, 2 December 1966. insurance that the Secretary General will be able to serve, ... I felt in 1961, and I still feel very strongly, that the United in full accordance with his oath of office, the long-term Nations will not become the effective instrument its founders intended it to be until its members abide by its rules and give interest in peace of all members of the Organization. real attention to its decisions and resolutions. Secretary General

There is a widespread illusion that the Secretary General is comparable to the head of a government. He is often criticized for failure to take an action — when over 130 sovereign member states collectively fail to act. The plain fact is that the United Nations, and the Secretary General, have none of the attributes of sovereignty and no independent power, although the Secretary General has, and must maintain, his independence of judgment, and must never become the agent of any particular government or group of The Assembly applauding as Secretary-General U Thant entered the Assembly Hall following his appointment as Secretary-General governments. for another term of office. attention, he has the duty to do whatever he can, in whatever way seems most helpful, so long as his action does not violate the Charter. Sometimes this action breaks a new diplomatic path. ... Preventive diplomacy of this kind is far more effective and, no less important, much cheaper in money and human lives than attempting to settle a conflict that has been allowed to reach an acute stage. As I mentioned earlier, however, it requires the total co-operation, restraint, and good will of the parties concerned. It also requires from them courage and vision, as well as confidence in the discretion and integrity of the Secretary General. When these conditions are present, much can be done quietly. When they are absent, little can be done, U Thant with the first Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Trygve Lie and the United Nations has little or no effect.

... The Secretary General's world has two poles: at one extreme the idealism and global objectives of the Charter, and at the other, the pragmatic and, if I may say so, the unconcealed selfish nature of national sovereignty. Working between these poles, he cannot afford to lose touch with either. In every critical situation, whatever action the Secretary General takes will seem to some governments excessive and an interference, but to others, weak and passive. He must tread his way through this jungle of conflicting national policies with the Charter as his only compass and, perhaps, a general directive from one of the deliberative organs of the UN as his only guide. If he does not have such a directive, and a conflict or potential conflict is brought to his ... As I learned from the nearly ten years we worked together after I became Secretary General, Bunche was an international civil servant in the true sense of the word, and I cannot think of anyone in the upper echelon of the Secretariat dealing with political matters who was less nationalistic in his concept and his approach to problems.

Secretary-General U Thant at Kennedy International Airport with Mr. Ralph Bunche, U.N. Under Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs, 6 September 1965. On Colonialism

... Although I have been trained to be tolerant, it is difficult for me to shake off unhappy memories of servitude. I cannot forget the fact, for instance, that even an officiating lieutenant governor of Burma, the highest officeholder in the country, could not become a member of any of the three prestigious clubs in Rangoon, simply because he was a Burmese and the clubs were exclusively European. Such memories no doubt influence my approach to colonial problems, and even long before my appointment as Secretary General, I was deeply involved in national and international meetings in the discussion of colonialism. Thus, in formulating my conception of the role of the Secretary General, the question of colonialism was very much on my mind.

U Thant in Burma on the terrace of the famed Shwedagon Pagoda, February 1967. On the Congo on December 2, 1960, and when he administration a policy of paternalism was taken on a lorry from Ndjili was consistently practiced. While the airport to an unknown destination, Congolese enjoyed a standard of living made his tragic end inevitable. higher than that of most other African Patrice Lumumba was a very countries, the Belgian authorities did not enigmatic man. He was no doubt a promote their political advancement. The passionate patriot who in his lifetime education of the African population was hile the United States wanted to see — and even after his death — oriented to produce, at best, clerks, W a unified anticommunist, or at least generated strong emotion: idolatry skilled workers, and sergeants rather noncommunist, Congo under leaders or condemnation. than managers, administrators, engineers, educators, and officers. Not like Kasavubu or Mobutu, the Soviet ... In the eyes of many small until 1957 were political activities Union wanted a unified procommunist, member states, the issue went tolerated in the territory. Arrangements or "progressive," Congo under leaders beyond the simple question of UN for independence were made only at the like Lumumba or Gizenga. The only military support of the Congolese beginning of 1960, at a round-table thing the two nations could agree on central government, or the eviction conference in which Congolese leaders was that the Congo should be united, of foreign mercenaries from the participated. The first legislative with Katanga as an integral part of the country. They saw the main UN role elections ever held in the Congo took country. as that of counteracting the threat of place in May 1960. Parliament met for direct United States-Soviet ... [T]he United Nations contributed, the first time on June 17, and the First intervention in the Congo. perhaps inadvertently, to the tragic Central Government, with Mr. Kasavubu end of Lumumba. First, the denial to ... The crisis in the Congo was, in as President and Mr. Patrice Lumumba him of radio facilities on September 6, many ways, the culmination of a as Prime Minister, was established on 1960, by the Secretary General's series of events that had their cause June 23, only a week before special representative generated a and origin in the failure of the former independence. chain of events leading to his arrest Belgian colonial administration to and assassination. Second, the prepare the Congolese adequately for inexplicable indifference, or lack of the independence that was granted to initiative, on the part of ONUC, when them on June 30, 1960. There was Lumumba was observed under arrest an overwhelming opinion at the United Nations that under the Belgian As a Buddhist, I abhor all forms of violence; the feeling is embedded in my inner self. Since that memorable Security Council meeting of November 24, 1961, authorizing me to use a requisite measure of force in the Congo to evict foreign mercenaries, my conscience had been pricking me. Any news of violent death, whether of a Congolese, a United Nations soldier, or a foreign mercenary, saddened me deeply. Every morning I prayed for the sparing of lives. In the course of my meditations, I practiced metta (good will) and karuna (compassion) to all in the Congo, without distinction as to race, religion, or color. I realized, however, that the moral principles of my religion had to be adjusted to the practical responsibilities of my office. I had to view the United Nations operation in the Congo as a battle for peace, not as a war; to me, war — all war — is folly and insanity. I regarded the UN soldiers as soldiers of peace. In the final phase of the UN Secretary-General U Thant consults with military officers from the Congo, 8 April 1963. UN operation in the Congo, I thought of one of Lord Buddha's maxims: "He who guides others by a procedure that is non- violent and equitable, he is said to be a guardian of the law, wise and righteous." ... That evening I watched President perimeters of communist countries, John F. Kennedy on television. In my were fully within their rights to act memory, it was the grimmest and gravest similarly. The only difference was that speech ever made by a head of state. The while the latter NATO, CENTO, and President told the American people that SEATO participants received the the Soviet Union, contrary to promises, missiles and bombers openly from the was building offensive missile and bomber United States, Cuba received them bases in Cuba. He said that the bases secretly from the Soviet Union. During could operate missiles carrying nuclear this period, I held private and separate warheads up to a range of two thousand consultations with the representatives miles. of the United State, Cuba, and the Soviet Union with a view to beginning n Saturday, October 20, [1962] negotiations. O Brigadier General Indar Jit Rikhye, my military adviser, told me that ... The crisis in the Caribbean ended Washington had "definite proof" of the in a compromise. The settlement was an presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. On the On the eloquent illustration of the usefulness same day, Philip Dean, the United Nations of the United Nations to member representative in Washington, reported to Cuban states as a place for peaceful me on the phone that according to settlement of international conflicts. information available to him, President Missile Kennedy believed that the evidence was ... The United Nations played an irrefutable. Not only were some missiles important role at the peak of the crisis. there already, but the sites for others, with Crisis All three parties directly involved knew Washington within their range, were being from the beginning that they could not installed. ignore the World Organization; they turned to the United Nations, either ... Then he announced that, with because they needed help or because effect from that night, he had imposed a they needed to prevent the world naval and air "quarantine" on the shipment forum from being monopolized. of offensive military equipment to Cuba. Thus, a most critical moment — perhaps the most critical moment since the end of World War II — had arrived.

... My judgment was that Cuba was fully within its rights to ask for and receive the missiles and bombers from a Big Power, in the same way that Turkey, Pakistan, Thailand, and Japan (Okinawa), on the ... The Cuban missile crisis of 1962 brought the world to the edge of a nuclear holocaust. Never in the history of the United Nations did it face a moment of graver responsibility and grimmer challenge. ... I must describe my own activities behind the scenes, for I had already decided that I must take certain initiatives to avert the coming nuclear showdown. ... I left for Havana on the morning of Tuesday, October 30, on a Varig Airlines plane chartered by the United Nations.

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Secretary-General U Thant is seen at the airport after his arrival from talks in Cuba, 31 October 1962. ... I made my appeal. After observing that the United Nations was facing a moment of grave responsibility, and that the very fate of mankind was at stake, I called for urgent negotiations between the parties directly involved. Then I informed the Security Council that, at the request of a large number of member states, I had sent identical messages to President Kennedy and Chairman Khrushchev.

... I appealed to the President and the Prime Minister of the Revolutionary Government of Cuba to suspend the construction and development of major military facilities and installations in Cuba during the period of negotiation.

Secretary-General U Thant with Premier Fidel Castro in Havana, 30 October 1962. ... When we all rose, Mr. Castro asked me if I would mind posing for photos, and I said I would not. He gave one of his rare smiles and said that this photo would be historic if the Cuban problem were solved, and would mean nothing if not. ... I got up at six-thirty the next morning (October 31), and tried to meditate, as usual. I sat up in bed and closed my eyes, but my mind wandered. Scenes of the United States destroyer off the Cuban coast, the Cuban antiaircraft emplacements, an unsmiling Castro, a nervous Soviet ambassador and a youthful missile general flitted across my mind's eye. It was difficult to shut off my senses, even for a brief moment, and feel inner peace. Perhaps loss of sleep was the reason. Or was I very worried? In any case, I managed to practice metta (good will) and karuna (compassion) to all.

Secretary-General U Thant with Premier Fidel Castro in Havana, 30 October 1962. On Vietnam

ecause of disagreement among the Big ... One peculiar feature of the Vietnam war ... I find it difficult to express adequately the B Powers, the United Nations could not was that there were no decisive military strong sense of repugnance to all established play a major role in the Indo-Chinese actions. There were only the jungle, the standards and norms of civilized society that the situation. Peking, ostracized by the guerrillas, the regular troops with mass continuance of this savage war evokes. I do not international community, had been denouncing formations overrunning first this town and then see how one can build a democratic government the United Nations as a stooge of Washington. that village, the endless carnage, and the or a stable society over huge graveyards and Moscow and Paris did not favor United Nations devastation of everything that can be with the participation of enormous refugee involvement in the Vietnam war because Hanoi destroyed. camps. I know that advocates of escalation did not want it. prescribe more drastic and large-scale ... I have never advocated the immediate destruction, but such senseless escalation would ... Nevertheless, during the first weeks of withdrawal of United States troops from the only produce a cure that is infinitely worse than my tenure, I privately discussed the question Republic of Vietnam. I am fully conscious of the the disease; in the words of an eminent of Vietnam with several permanent fact that such a step will naturally involve theologian, "the operation might be successful, representatives, but found a total lack of questions of face and prestige, and questions but the patient would certainly be buried, and enthusiasm on their part to bring the matter of the abrogation of previous commitments, the hospital buried with him." to the United Nations. and so forth. But I feel that once diplomatic and political methods have been tried, if there ... Once peace and stability are restored, can is any perceptible improvement in the we not expect that the energies and talents of situation, and if some sort of stability can be all the people of Vietnam will be turned toward restored in the country, then at that time, of healing their divisions and the reconstruction I had held all along that the course, the United States can withdraw its and modernization of both parts of the country? troops with dignity. real issue of the war was not Indeed, one may expect that Vietnam, given its natural resources and the intellectual capacity whether the political aims of ... This is exactly what happened — eight and vigor of its people, would at some future U.S. policy were right or years and many thousands of lives later. And I date become the moving spirit of a new co- wrong; the issue was the am sure that I am not the only Asian who operative effort among the countries of the American conduct of the war. found it ironic that, as it seemed to us, the region, irrespective of their overall political United States stayed in Vietnam to save face, a systems. characteristic that Westerners are fond of attributing to Asians. Visit to Washington ... [I] visited Washington on August 6 at the invitation of President Johnson. The White House reception for me was the most unforgettable in my ten-year experience as Secretary General. ... It was at this luncheon that my search for peace in Vietnam began — an initiative that was to be rejected by the United States without the President's knowledge.

United Nations Secretary-General U Thant with President Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson at the White House, 6 August 1964. ... I am sure that the great American people, if only they knew the true facts and the background to the developments in South Vietnam, will agree with me that further bloodshed is unnecessary. The political and diplomatic method of discussion and negotiation alone can create conditions which will enable the United States to withdraw gracefully from that part of the world. As you know, in times of war and of hostilities, the first casualty is truth.

Secretary-General U Thant, during a press conference held at the United Nations Headquarters. ... I found President Johnson one of the warmest, most informal, and congenial men to talk to — so long as you did not take up international affairs. I felt that he had a liking for me. During many of his visits to New York, he would phone me from a hotel, after his official function was over, to tell me that he was on his way to the UN to see mel The UN security people had less than ten minutes to make arrangements for his arrival and his flight to the thirty-eighth floor. I do not remember having met any head of state or head of government so informal and so warm toward me, and at the same time so juvenile in his concept of international developments. He once told me that if South Vietnam were to fall to the communists, then the next target would be Hawaii) U.S. President Lyndon Johnson visits Secretary-General U Thant at the United Nations, 4 April 1968. On June 25, 1965 both President Johnson and I delivered speeches in the San Francisco Opera House, commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations. The President was in a serious, even sour, mood. He said that because of his esteem and affection for me as well as his support of the United Nations, his dinner for me in August 1964 was the biggest ever held in the White House. He had wanted to tell the whole world that he regarded me as a man of peace and that the United Nations was the only hope for peace. He was distressed, however, at my criticism of his Vietnam policies and the general attitude of the United Secretary-General U Thant with President Lyndon Johnson at the White House. Nations in that matter. Secretary-General U Thant with President-elect Richard M. Nixon at the United Nations, 17 December 1968.

... I frequently called for three things that were anathema to the Johnson Administration: an end to the bombing of North Vietnam, a de-escalation of the fighting (at a time that the United States was stepping up its participation), and participation by the National Liberation Front (the Vietcong) in any negotiations. All three proved necessary before even a limited settlement was finally agreed to by the Nixon Administration, four years after his first election in 1968. the Black Sea. His reception was the most informal and the least conventional ever given me by a head of government in my tenure as Secretary General. ... The country house has an idyllic rural setting with a sweeping view of the vast Black Sea. The Soviet Chairman wore a somewhat rumpled light suit. His peasant figure and manners brought back to me memories of my youth in Pantanaw, the small town in Burma in which I was born and brought up. When I was about seven or eight years old, my father on Sunday mornings used to take my second brother Khant and myself to his farm, about three miles from town. I remember vividly the head farmer, U Myat Thin, coming to town at dawn in his bullock cart; soon we would all leave for the paddy field, taking with us eatables for the day. We would spend the whole day playing with the head farmer's children, plucking fruits and wild flowers. Now, at Yalta, I was in no mood to talk business: how I wished I could play with the two little blond boys instead) I felt much more at home in Khrushchev's dacha, which is closer to my roots, than the heavily chandeliered Elys6e Palace with its resplendent garde r^publicain.

United Nations Secretary-General U Thant, in Moscow to attend the signing of Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty is seen with Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev, 4 August 1963.

It is interesting to contrast President Johnson with Chairman Khrushchev — the one tall and imposing, the other stocky, with a peasant look and earthy manners, both the most congenial but at the same time the most temperamental of men. ... I first met Mr. Khrushchev during the summer of 1962, when I paid my first official visits to London, Paris, Moscow, and Washington. Of those visits, the one with Chairman Khrushchev was the most memorable. It was on August 28, in his country house near Yalta on On the Middle East

... Two things struck me at that time and are still fresh in my mind: the first was the genuine warmth of the welcome we were accorded; the second was the vigor, inventiveness, and determination of the people. The Israelis are undoubtedly a very innovative nation. ... As a citizen of a country which has consistently maintained the friendliest of relations with Israel, I wish to venture on an analysis of common factors between our two countries. Despite all disparities of history, geography, and climate, Israel and Burma are endeavoring to revive their respective ancient cultures against the background of modern civilization.... Both Israel and Burma have one aim in common: the creation of a society of free and equal peoples, with equal opportunities for all, a society based on certain values of human and social life.

[During a goodwill visit to Israel by U Nu, then the Prime Minister of Burma in May 1955, U Thant accompanied U Nu to Israel. For Israel it was the first official visit by a Prime Minister of a foreign country since its creation by the United Nations.] Ambassador U Thant with Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt at Abba Eban farewell dinner.

At the farewell dinner given for Abba Eban at the United Nations on May 11, 1959, I was the only permanent representative from the Third World invited to speak. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, who was seated at the head table with me (along with Senator Jacob Javits, Governor Thomas Dewey, and Dr. Henry Steele Commager) told me that it was very difficult to get other ambassadors to speak, in view of Arab hostility toward Israel. I spoke with genuine feeling for the departing diplomat. In May 1967, however, the mood and attitude of Israel and its people toward me changed overnight and became, besides, extremely critical of the United Nations. The ostensible reason was my decision to withdraw the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) from Sinai and the Gaza Strip at the request of the Egyptian government. This decision has been so widely publicized — and became, in fact, so much a cause ceJebre for critics of the United Nations, who vented their dismay and frustration on me — that I propose, first, to examine the facts of the situation that confronted me at the time and, second, to delineate, step by step, the action that took in consequence of those facts.

Secretary-General U Thant with President Gamal Abdel Nasser in Cairo. At left is Foreign Minister of the United Arab Republic, Mahmoud Riad, and right are Major General Indar Jit Rikhye, Commander of UNEF, and Dr. Mahmoud Fawzi, Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs. A report on the Middle East by a sub-committee of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was presented to Secretary-General U Thant at his residence in Riverdale, N.Y., 3 December 1971. My sole purpose is to present the picture from only one vantage point: that of the United Nations, which has been deeply involved in the problem of the Middle East from the partition of Palestine to the present. I will present only the essential facts, based on the records of the principal deliberative organs of the World Organization, without any attempt at passing judgment on the course of events prior to my action of May 1967.

Secretary-General U Thant, shaking hands with Lord Caradon of the United Kingdom during United Nations Security Council debate on Middle East Situation, 29 May 1967. ... I should like to make it plain that not only have I been a firm friend of Israel throughout the growth and vicissitudes of that struggling country, but also that its leading and most representative spokesmen have constantly acknowledged the depth of my personal concern for their national aspirations and well-being and have accorded me the privilege of their friendship over these difficult years. The instances that follow are only a few of the tangible expressions of this close relationship.

Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, with Secretary-General U Thant at the United Nations, 26 September 1969. On the Dominican Crisis

I ne harsh fact of the postwar era was the Cuba. He said that a total of 14,000 United were very critical of UN activities in the Congo, re-emergence of "spheres of influence" in States troops had been committed in the were advocating increased UN participation in international politics. Dominican Republic to protect American and the Dominican Republic, but were opposed to other foreign residents as well as to "prevent any OAS involvement in maintaining peace and ... For Washington and Moscow — when their another communist state in this Hemisphere." security. On the other hand, the United spheres of influence are involved — the United States, which had consistently supported UN Nations is decidedly not the agency for ... The United Nations could play only a actions in the Congo, was now bitterly maintaining international peace and security. The marginal role in the crisis — observing and opposed to any United Nations action in the Dominican crisis of 1965 and the invasion of reporting — because Washington wanted it Dominican Republic. Secretary of State Dean Czechoslovakia in 1968 not only bear out the thus far and no further. Rusk told me that his country would never truth of that unwritten rule, but also bear permit UN involvement in the Dominican crisis. witness to the profound stirrings for freedom and independence that challenge the two giants within their realms of influence. One harsh fact of the postwar ... In the Dominican crisis, the primacy and era was the re-emergence of overriding responsibility of the United Nations "spheres of influence" in was not acknowledged, much less respected, by the United States. Washington used the OAS as international politics an instrument of its policy in the same way that Moscow used the Warsaw Pact in its invasion of Czechoslovakia three years later.

... On April 28, 1965, United States forces under orders from President Johnson landed in the Dominican Republic. ... President Johnson, in ... One peculiar characteristic of the formal television statements made on April 30 Dominican episode was the complete reversal and May 2, acknowledged American fears that of Big-Power attitudes toward the United the Dominican Republic might become another Nations. The Soviet Union and France, which On the Invasion of Czechoslovakia

... The whole sad episode shows that the forces of freedom are growing everywhere, although they can be suppressed by military might. ... The intervention of the United States in the Dominican Republic had been universally criticized, by friends and foes alike. As a result, when the invasion of Czechoslovakia took place three years later, Washington was completely bereft of credentials to condemn Moscow. I agree with the judgment of Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota — that at the height of the Czech crisis, the United States was morally unable even to make a strong protest against the actions of the Soviet Union and its allies. He said that the war in Vietnam and the military interventions in Cuba and the Dominican Republic had made it easier for the Russians to move as they had moved, and harder for the Americans to make serious moral and diplomatic protests. ... Without even the moral basis of a condemnation of Moscow by Washington, the Security Council was once again immobilized, and eight months of liberalization in Czechoslovakia came to an end. Secretary-General U Thant at signing of Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty in Moscow, 5 August 1963. ... A constructive and most helpful action in these perilous times would be the strengthening of the peace-building and peace- keeping capability of the United Nations system. ... Conversely, military alliances must gradually give way to a global concept of international security and international ... Conversely, military alliances must gradually progress. This will require an intensified effort to reach the give way to a global concept of international minds and hearts of all men with the irrefutable message that security and international progress. war is not only folly and madness, but that mankind's future depends upon its abolition. There is a need, now more imperative than ever before, for worldwide education toward international understanding and peaceful coexistence. On September 7, 1965, I left New York On the for Karachi.

Indo-Pakistani ... On the flight I tried to get some sleep, but visions of Kashmir appeared in Conflict my mind.... I remembered the serenity of life in Kashmir, the unspoiled beauty of the landscape — and Sheikh Abdullah himself, a giant of a man known there as The Lion of Kashmir. I recalled that it was his dream to make Kashmir a model state. he year 1965 not only produced the On the trip to Taxila Dominican crisis; it also witnessed T ... Foreign Minister Ali Bhutto hostilities on a large scale between immediately impressed me as articulate, ... One of my life's ambitions was India and Pakistan. Two separate wars well-informed, and impassioned. Lawyer, to visit Taxila, seat of the oldest broke out. The first was relatively limited, scholar, and politician blended in him Buddhist university in the world; I but the second, far more extensive and far when he talked. He had studied at the mentioned this to Mr. Bhutto at our more terrifying. University of California and then at first meeting on September 9. He Christ Church, Oxford, where he had kindly arranged that visit for the ... While the dispute over the Rann of been one of the most brilliant students of next day, and after lunch, took me Kutch (which erupted in April 1965) was Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, then in his car to the ruined city, which peacefully resolved four years later, a professor of comparative religions. is about an hour's drive from second conflict — this time in the region of Although Radhakrishnan was now the Rawalpindi. The sacred ruins of Kashmir — broke out between India and President of India, Mr. Bhutto, in line Taxila are beyond description. Pakistan the following August and had no with the Asian tradition that a student Sandstone statues of the Buddha in such happy conclusion. ... The Indo- must show respect to his teacher, various poses were exhibited in the Pakistani dispute over Kashmir had been wanted me to convey his regards to his museum, which was well kept, and I before the United Nations since 1948. ... old professor when I saw him in New saw from its door vast stretches of From August 5, 1965, onward, tension Delhi. The President of India was deeply the ruins of a once-flourishing was heightened and large-scale hostilities touched when I conveyed Mr. Bhutto's Buddhist seat of learning. occurred. It was apparent that the case- message to him. fire agreement of July 29, 1949 had completely broken down. marshal should be. He was the De Gaulle of Asia. I explained to him my mandate, defined by the September Security Council resolutions, which gave me no authority to discuss the overall question of Kashmir. My only mandate was to achieve a prompt and effective cease-fire; without that, the threat to world peace in Kashmir was in reality greater than that in Vietnam. I had in mind the potential role of Peking (which had backed Pakistan) and Moscow (which had backed India). He insisted, however, that the Security Council ought to concern itself with the fundamental problem, which was to get a territorial settlement that would stick. Obviously, there was no meeting of minds, and we moved to the dining room for the luncheon the President gave me.

Secretary-General U Thant met with President Mohammed Ayub Khan of Pakistan in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, 18 April 1967.

President Ayub Khan, who carried his six-foot, soldier, he had ruled with an iron hand, and three-inch frame with dignity and elegance, he had only contempt for intellectuals. impressed me as a strong and imperious leader. He President Khan spoke with a clipped British had seized power in 1958, and with military accent; he had a tough and no-nonsense air precision had instituted a sweeping land reform about him. All this, together with his program, reorganized the government, and taken magnificent physique and brush mustache, drastic measures against corruption. A perfect gave one the feeling of what an ideal field ... I called on President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the eminent scholar and philosopher, and the author of several profound works on philosophy and Eastern religions. In my view, his greatest contribution to modern thought is his profound philosophy of the religion of the spirit. This, coupled with his deep religious conviction, leads him to the conclusion that the essence of all religions is the same. "Religion," he says, "is not a creed or code, but an insight into reality." Dr. Radhakrishnan thus takes religion out of the realm of conflict and dogma. For me, meeting him meant more than meeting the president of the most populous democracy in the world, for before me was a great philosopher and a teacher. It was a spiritual experience. We discussed the Dhammapada, perhaps the best-known and most influential book of the Buddhist canonical literature (which he translated into English from the Sanskrit).

Secretary-General U Thant with the President of India, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, in New Delhi, India, 12 September 1965. was delivered to Prime Minister Shastri at 2030 hours New Delhi time on the same day. The appeal called for an unconditional cease-fire on September 14 and a withdrawal of all armed personnel on both sides to positions held before August 5. This appeal, as it turned out, was not only unsuccessful, but was the first of a series of equally unsuccessful appeals and negotiations, the failure of which necessitated my going before the Security Council, in the end, to proclaim my helplessness. ... No conclusion should be drawn that the Security Council, or for that matter the United Nations, was mainly responsible for achieving the cease-fire and withdrawal. Of course, the Security Council resolutions and the massive opinion of the international community, as reflected in the Council debates, were contributing factors in the final outcome. The main credit for achieving the cease-fire and withdrawal, however, must be given to Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin for having produced the historic 'Tashkent Declaration" signed by the two heads of government. ... Prime Minister Shastri of India and President Ayub Khan of Pakistan signed (on January 10, 1966) a declaration in which they asserted their firm resolve to restore normal and peaceful relations between their two countries and to reaffirm their obligation under the UN Charter to settle their differences through peaceful means.

Secretary-General U Thant conferring with Prime Minister of India, Lai Bahadur Shastri, at Prime Minister's residence in New Delhi, India, 12 September 1965.

... Pakistani Prime Minister Shastri was the direct antithesis of President Ayub Khan. ... I told the Prime Minister that it was my intention to address identical appeals to both governments for a cease-fire, specifying time and date. Later, I drafted the appeal and sent it (in code) to the President of Pakistan through the UNMOGIP office in Rawalpindi, to be delivered at 2000 hours Rawalpindi time, on Sunday, September 12. Simultaneously, an identical message Like Mr. Shastri, he is simple, modest, and serene but, at the same time, firm. By patching up a truce between India and Pakistan, he not only proved himself to be an able and persistent mediator; he also demonstrated that the Soviet Union can play a significant role in South and Southeast Asia. No doubt Mr. Kosygin had the added advantage of the silent support of the Big Powers (except China). In fact, the common hostility of the United States and the Soviet Union toward China strengthened Mr. Kosygin's hands in the restoration of stability to the subcontinent. President Ayub Khan also showed extraordinary courage and statesmanship in signing the declaration, reaffirming his commitment under the United Nations Charter not to settle his disputes with India by force. For this, he became the target of a violent and relentless attack in his own country. He even offered to attend Mr. Shastri's funeral in New Delhi [Shastri died in Moscow], but did not do so, for security reasons, only at the request of the Indian Secretary-General U Thant with Soviet Premier Alexi Kosygin at the General Assembly Fifth Emergency Special authorities. As later events Session, 17 June 1967. unfolded, this courage was a factor in his own downfall.

... The Tashkent Declaration propelled Mr. Kosygin into the world scene as a supernegotiator. I had met the Soviet Premier several times and talked with him on various issues. I have yet to meet a world statesman whose quiet dignity and courteous manners can match Mr. Kosygin's. The Birth of Bangla Desh

... Like many others, I watched with a growing sense of horror as the long-smoldering political tension between West Pakistan and East Pakistan developed, in March 1971, into mob violence, slaughter, and massacre. ... The conflict had its root in the deep split between the Punjabis of West Pakistan and the Bengalis of the more populous East Pakistan. ... No matter how history judges the motivations of India or Pakistan, their conflict had a tragic result for the international community: a major victim of the Pakistani civil war was the United Nations and the principle of international co-operation that it embodies. The World Organization received one more serious blow, and in my view, with some justification. For throughout the struggle, the United Nations had made no move to act; my pleas and warnings to the Security Council, both privately and Secretary-General U Thant in New Delhi is seen with the Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Ghandhi publicly, fell on deaf ears. The Council was at her residence, 10 April 1967. immobilized, both by the refusal of the parties directly involved (India and Pakistan) and by the major powers, to face up to their obligations under the Charter to confront the issues forthrightly. ...[It was] a very terrible blot on the page of ... As a friend to both India and human history. Pakistan, and as one who was brought up to admire and absorb the cultural heritage of both countries, I felt a sharp pang of distress at the tragic turn of events. On Global Challenges: World more eclectic approach. Capitalist countries division of the world into East and West, the Community Development have accepted several socialist ideas, such gap between rich and poor countries has led as planned economic growth, full to a kind of North-South division of the Decade employment, and equality of opportunity, world. and have adopted several measures in the ... In spite of dramatic improvements in field of social security that would have been the prevention of disease (which over the considered revolutionary at the beginning of preceding decade had added ten to twenty this century. Communist countries, in an he realities of the present-day world years to the expectation of life in the effort to improve their production and to call for a new quality of planetary developing countries) the average life T satisfy the needs of their people, are, on the imagination; they call for a global expectancy in developing countries still fell other hand, using methods developed in mentality that takes account of the nature of far behind that in the North Atlantic capitalist systems, such as incentives. In interdependence and the imperative need to countries. change. many Eastern European countries, economists have become aware that the ... Failure to invest adequately in the ... For the past fifteen years and more, I growing complexity of the economic systems control of disease and the promotion of have never tired of saying that the issue in their countries calls for a certain measure health has led, in many parts of the world, to facing mankind is not primarily the contest of decentralization of the decision-making a deterioration of standards of health and between communism and democracy. The process. I do not regard these developments sanitation. more essential issue is the division of the as implying any weaknesses on the part of ... The misery of much of the developing world into the prosperous and the abject either capitalism or communism. They are world is a progressive misery. In the early poor, the weak and the strong, the ruler and only signs that, as a result of their effort to sixties, it threatened to grow worse if the the ruled, the master race and the subhuman. be efficient and to promote the greatest good international community neglected to take Even before I was appointed Secretary of the greatest number — which, after all, is prompt and vigorous action. In 1961, General of the United Nations, I had been a common goal of all political systems — the economists and social scientists estimated convinced that the most serious sharp distinctions between the two systems that the numbers of unemployed men and source of tension in the world is the are beginning to lose their edge. Even such women suffering from hunger and division of the world into rich fundamental freedoms as freedom of speech, nations and poor nations. I had malnutrition would be markedly greater in freedom of conscience, and freedom of 1971 than a decade earlier. For it is in the stressed my conviction that this association, which were absent in communist poor countries that the highest growth rate division of the world is more real, societies for so long, are emerging in of population is found. In the early sixties, more lasting, and ultimately more varying degrees in communist countries. The explosive even than that between the there was simply no prospect of growth in rate of such emergence will be related to the agricultural production sufficient to communists and non-communists. willingness of these societies to open up to accommodate that rising flood of people. ... While there is no doubt that political the outside world. In any event, political and ideologies still constitute the basis of the ideological tensions will continue to be a ... Thus the postwar world most serious tension in the world, one can feature of our time. witnessed two revolts — the revolt for political freedom and, at the see that the rigid concepts of capitalism and ... While the ideological conflict that same time, the revolt of the have- communism are gradually giving way to a developed after World War II resulted in a nots. With the launching of the Development Decade by the General Assembly at the end of 1961, all member states and their peoples were to intensify their efforts during the 1960s to halt and reverse the increasing gap in per capita incomes between the rich and the poor.

Our vision was that of a world community in which the wealth created in it is so divided that the vast majority of people have the education, the skills, the environment, and the kind of income needed to lead a satisfying life.

President Kennedy addresses U.N. General Assembly, 20 September 1963.

... When President Kennedy, in the course of his address to the General Assembly in September 1961, proposed that the 1960s be designated as the United Nations Development Decade, the reception was one of undivided enthusiasm. On President John F. Kennedy

The President embodied a rare and quite remarkable combination of intellect and courage, of vigor and compassion, of devotion to the arts and science - all focused on serving his basic concern for the well-being of mankind.

President Kennedy addresses UN General Assembly, 20 September 1963. I On Global Challenges: Economic Development i i i /~\ ver the centuries, black- and brown-skinned humanity had knocked at the hearts and at the purses of peoples, in an effort V-r accepted "the white man's burden," and at the same time, to create a worldwide consciousness and response to its had been willing to accept poverty as a fact of life. The impatient and rightful demands. It was not good enough to tell the i fifteen years that elapsed between the end of World War II and developing countries that they had to do the job themselves and the beginning of the sixties were marked by a categorical that the fate of their peoples was their own concern. They rejection of this concept. pointed — often, angrily — at the exploitation to which they had been subjected for so long, and which continues to this day in the i ... I felt very strongly when I assumed the duties of form of low prices for their raw materials and agricultural Secretary General that it is no longer either morally acceptable products and high prices for their imports of manufactured goods or politically expedient for the more advanced nations to ignore and industrial equipment. No wonder that the United Nations the backwardness and poverty of the others. In the development i became the major forum and battleground in which the of democratic nations, the tax system is a tacit recognition of developing countries denounced current injustices, appealed for the responsibility of a society for all its members, of the more worldwide help and solidarity, put forth proposals for fortunate for the less fortunate. I also felt deeply that, in the international action, and established economic and social i society of nations, there is the need to recognize the general development as the overriding priority for the world community. responsibility for alleviating poverty and misfortune among two thirds of humanity. ... It is no longer either morally acceptable or politically i ... Every possible pressure was exerted by the new expedient for the more advanced nations to ignore the countries to obtain greater international economic justice and a backwardness and poverty of others. better lot for their peoples. The world suddenly woke up to the i fact that probably never before in history had such enormous differences prevailed in the fates of human beings living at the same time on the same planet. i ... The revolution of economic development, a major feature of our time, looked for every possible avenue of expression; it i i ... The Economic and Social Council was established as one of the principal organs of the Charter and was entrusted with the task of dealing with the profound challenge of meeting human needs in the vital areas of food, clothing, shelter, health, education, human rights, and so on.

... Together with the specialized agencies, the United Nations, for the first time In history, provided mankind with mechanisms that would seek to improve the life of every man, woman, and child on earth. This was a goal perhaps more revolutionary than any political revolution in history.

Secretary-General U Thant confers with Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, High Commissioner for Refugees, at his residence on plans for assigning refugees from East Pakistan, 23 June 1971. On Global Challenges: World Citizenship

... The World Organization that I tried to ... A new quality of planetary serve for over a decade is not merely a imagination is demanded from all of us as hallowed name, to be lauded or by-passed as the price of human survival. I am not national policies dictate. It is a realistic and decrying that form of nationalism that indispensable framework of world prompts the individual citizen to appreciate management, within which all national and praise the achievements and values that umanity has reached the point of no statesmen must view their responsibilities his native land has contributed to the well- H return. Acceptance of the community of today. From now on, they must adapt and being and happiness of the whole human interest has become a requirement of adjust their national ethos and institutions race. Nor am I calling for international human survival on this planet. It can no to those principles and purposes of the homogenization, for I rejoice in cultural and longer be dismissed as an idealistic concept, Charter that have been accepted by "We, the national uniqueness. But I am making a plea unrelated to realities. The traditional Peoples* as a working basis of their common — a plea based on these ten years of looking sovereign state is no longer a viable life. It is a sad fact, however, that most at the human condition from my unique guarantee of a nation's security or economic member states use the machinery of the vantage point — for a dual allegiance. This prosperity, nor even a guarantee of national United Nations only when they feel that their implies an open acceptance of belonging — as survival. More and more men of science and own interests will be served by such use, or in fact we all do — to the human race as well scholarship, as well as business leaders and when all unilateral efforts at a solution have as to our local community or national. I even public administrators, have come to grasp failed. In most cases, the United believe that the mark of the truly educated this underlying fact of interdependence Nations has been by-passed in the and imaginative person facing the twenty- today. settlement of international disputes, first century is that he feels himself to be a particularly by the Big Powers, planetary citizen. Perhaps my own Buddhist ... No nation, however powerful and when those disputes were within upbringing has helped me more than anything wealthy, is nowadays sufficient unto itself. their own spheres of influence. The else to realize and to express in my Interdependence is a vital factor in our invasions of the Dominican Republic in 1965 speeches and writings this concept of world world and so is the existence of and of Czechoslovakia in 1968 are cases in . citizenship. In this book, I offer that concept international machinery to promote an point. as part of my own contribution to building orderly world development. Thus, with the future World Community. tolerance and understanding, we may lay the ... For it is not only the sovereign foundations of lasting peace. This is the state that must adopt the global meaning of the United Nations and of the view; the individual person should efforts to which we are devoted. also recognize the imperative Secretary-General's New Year Message, demands of interdependence. I go so Headquarters, 23 December 1966. far as to suggest the need for a new concept of citizenship. ... Bertrand Russell was no doubt among the greatest thinkers of our time, and in addition, one of the most courageous and passionate activists for peace.

Acting U.N. Secretary-General U Thant is seen with Earl Bertrand Russell in London, England, 6 July 1962. On Global Challenges: Youth and Human Rights

... The importance of human resources development, in contrast to material resources development, is now widely recognized. But there is still a tendency to think of human resources development in the more limited sense of meeting the manpower needs of the modern State. This is a much too narrow approach. Some 40 per cent of the population in the developing countries is under fifteen years of age. The majority of these young people are ill-fed, have had little or no modern medical attention and are unschooled or inadequately schooled. It is unrealistic to expect that by some miracle these people, on reaching the age of eighteen or thereabouts, will be transformed into active and intelligent members of their communities - or even be able to absorb a high level of training, if offered. Consequently, much more attention must be given to the huge task of preparing the young for the life from the earliest possible moment. Introduction to the Secretary-General's Annual Report on the Work of the Organization, 16 June 1967 - 15 June 1968, issued 24 September 1968. ... I am a firm believer in parliamentary democracy; I believe very strongly that parliamentary democracy is the only type of society U Thant at the opening of the UNICEF Pavilion at the New York World's Fair, 25 April 1964. which is congenial to the growth of human freedom, human happiness and ... The United Nations has a moral meaning for the children of developing countries, for they have human genius. received the imprints of love from fellow human beings at a time when the mind and heart are all very receptive. Replies to questions concerning Secretary- General's decision not to accept a second term, at Press Conference, Headquarters, 19 September 1966. On Global Challenges: Human Rights and the United Nations

... What is surprising is not that provisions on human rights were included in the Charter, but that it took humanity so long to acknowledge the interconnection between human rights and its other aspirations. For what purpose is international peace and security to be maintained, if not to preserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? What is the use of economic development if it does not, in the words of the Charter, 'promote better standards of life in larger freedom?" Address to the Italian Society for International Organizations, 'Development of Human Rights", Rome, 11 July 1963.

... The United Nations family firmly believes that racial discrimination and apartheid are a denial of human rights, of fundamental freedoms, and of justice, and that they are an affront to human dignity. We feel that racial discrimination and apartheid, wherever they are practised, constitute a serious impediment to economic and social development and are obstacles to international co-operation and peace. Message issued at Headquarters on 21 March 1967, proclaimed by the General Assembly as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, resolution.

...The dignity and worth of the human person is not merely a philosophic concept. It is, and should be, a working principle of human existence guiding our daily lives. Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves respect. We must each respect others even as we respect ourselves. This, as the sages of many lands have taught us, is a golden rule in individual and group, as well as international, relations. Address to the United Nations General Assembly, commemorating the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 9 December 1963.

... The promotion and protection of human rights must be viewed as a national - and indeed a community and an individual - responsibility, as well as an international one. We must all foster and encourage a climate of opinion in which human rights and fundamental freedoms flourish. We must be alive to any encroachment upon the right and freedoms of any individual. And above all, we must ourselves practice tolerance and respect the rights and freedoms of others. Message for Human Rights Day, United Nations Headquarters, 10 December 1964. On Global Challenges: Civilizations

f there is something that I find objectionable, it is not mean one thing for an American and another for a Burmese. I generalizing about whole peoples - saying, for instance, that Similarly, civilization should mean one and the same thing for all. all Asians or Africans or Europeans or Latin Americans are When we speak of the civilization of a country, we are apt to good or bad, brave or timid, cultured or wild. When we apply suppose that all the people of that country are civilized in more such adjectives to nations or group of nations, what we are in or less the same way, but in reality the different individuals of fact doing is describing our own emotional reations to those who the same country are not civilized in the same way or to the have our approval or disapproval. The plain fact is that no single same extent. A Burmese of mental and spiritual excellence will group of people can be categorized in general terms. not differ essentially from an American of such excellence, but It is generally assumed that there is one civilization in the East they will differ widely from their relatively uncivilized and a quite different one in the West, resulting in seeds of compatriots in their own countries. This principle applies equally tension or conflict between the peoples of these different to Americans, Russians, Chinese, or Burmese. geographical regions. This concept is a fallacy. The distinction of civilization into Eastern and Western types seems to me almost meaningless. As I noted in a public speech many years ago, I seriously question whether tension or conflict between one people and another ever arises from conflicting viewpoints in their respective cultures or civilizations. England and France, or France and Germany, may be said to share the same civilization and profess the same Christianity, yet they had been at war off and on for centuries. Conflicts between nations or individuals generally arise, not out of different viewpoints in their civilizations, not from reasons of their traditions and history, but from uncivilized elements in their character. To me, civilization connotes a mental and spiritual excellence, just as health means a certain physical excellence. Health does I I

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin I was a Jesuit priest as well as an eminent biologist and profound thinker. I do not know whether he ever used I the phrase "reverence for life", but his writings leaves no doubt in my mind that I he perfectly understood it, for he shared with Dr. Albert Schweitzer the same prayers and hopes for a troubled I world. Like Schweitzer, he called for an assertion of a new ethical imperative in man as well as within the I churches. The ideal of human synthesis has been I developed by almost all great religions. In regard to the ethical concepts of life that help bring such an ideal I to realization, Albert Schweitzer and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, among Western thinkers, had I powerful ideas and have been important influences I on me. Secretary-General U Thant with Pope Paul VI as he was leaving the Vatican Palace following an audience given by the Pope, I 28 April 1969. I I I that many indicators of economic advance showed view, this bridge is growing stronger with the On Global that the rate of improvement between the 1950s passage of time. It is a sign of hope for and 1960s had declined. The gap between the per mankind - a sign I saw when visiting the 1 Challenges: Building capita incomes of the rich and poor countries had developing countries - that part of the widened by 1965. I pointed out that the objectives struggle for economic and social betterment of the decade were not likely to be achieved by is waged under the common flag of the a Better Economic 1970, unless governments of both developed and United Nations. For international solidarity is I developing countries were willing to give a massive an ingredient of the daily life in those Order new impetus to development. Well-meaning countries; their nationhood and development declarations of intent had to be followed by actual have unfolded in the context of an implementation of programs, many of which would interdependent and concerned world. The I involve some sacrifice. Otherwise, the aspirations United Nations has a moral meaning embodied in the Development Decade would remain for the children of developing mere pious hopes. countries, for they have received I he men and women who wrote the UN ... The First Development Decade has been the Imprints of love from fellow Charter had perceptive vision when they human beings at a time when the T called by some a modest success, by others, a singled out economic and social mind and the heart are very disappointment and a failure. development as one of the main factors of receptive. Seeds of future understanding I peace. In their global view of the postwar period, ... Words were spoken, gestures were and solidarity have thus been sown in the they saw the gulf between the rich and the poor made, but the sense of clear commitment impoverished and more populated two-thirds as one of the gravest new threats to world seemed to be absent. of the world, at the time of transition into peace and understanding. the global age. Perhaps some day this I ... But there was also a bright side to the slow and patient building of a better ... The Economic and Social Council was Development Decade. Priorities for development economic order will be recognized as established as one of the principal organs of the were more clearly defined than before. In particular, one of the most lasting Charter and was entrusted with the task of international economic co-operation and the United I contributions of the United Nations, dealing with the profound challenge of meeting Nations itself were greatly strengthened during the during a period when many of the human needs in the vital areas of food, clothing, decade. shelter, health, education, human rights, and so deeper realities of our global on. ... Some of the results are: clean water running society were still blurred by political I in villages, children freed from hunger and early disputes and turmoil. ... The Council endorsed my suggestions and death, employment of more people, greater access later gave full support to the Freedom from to consumer goods, sewers in cities, and better Hunger Campaign, the new World Food Program, crops, schools, universities, hospitals, and roads in I and to a planned conference on the application developing countries. of science and technology to the problems of the less developed areas. The Council also ... When I traveled in the poorer continents, I established a thirteen-member committee to heard everywhere expressions of thanks for this I keep under review activities and progress during splendid co-operation between the rich and the poor the decade. peoples of the world. It will stand out as a fact of prime historic importance that the emergence of a ... By 1965, however, I concluded that the global society during the 1960s was accompanied by I results had been disappointing. In a report I the building of this bridge between the North and submitted on the decade at midpoint, I observed the South, between the rich and the poor. In my I I very necessary in these tense times in the second half of the twentieth century, when all of us are living in the shadow of the hydrogen bomb. Thus, education must prepare one for citizenship - for instance, how to be a good citizen of Manhattan, how to be a good citizen of New York State, how to be a good citizen of United States of America, and how to be a good citizen of the world. In other words, we must direct our attention to becoming a useful citizen of the human community; that should be our ultimate objective. We should not be parochial in our outlook. We should not just be citizens of Japan or Burma or Korea or Cambodia. Our vision must be directed towards the enlargement of our horizons so that one day we shall become good citizens of the international community and useful members of the human species, homo sapiens. The third aspect of education should deal, in my view, with what is usually called a certain scale of values. It deals primarily with the moral and spiritual U Thant at a special convocation where he was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the University of Delhi, 13 April, 1967. aspect of life. We have to cultivate what is best in us; that is, we have to try to While in New Delhi he received the Jawarhalal Nehru Prize for International Understanding which was awarded to him in September of 1966. develop the moral and spiritual qualities, such as tolerance, patience, humility, the philosophy of live-and-let-live, a desire to On Global Challenges: Education understand the other person's point of ... In order to get the best out of our education, our educational systems must, in my view, contain three view. These are basic qualities; they are ingredients. the key to all the great religions of the world. First, any sound and sensible system must include the vocational aspect. It must be directed towards training for jobs like that of a doctor, teacher, lawyer, merchant, banker, journalist, clerk, etc. That is one of the Address to World Youth Forum, essential ingredients of education. It is concerned with the doing of a job. United Nations Headquarters, 18 March 1968. The second essential ingredient of a sound educational system is, in my view, related to the way one lives in the society - in other words, how to grow up to be a good citizen. That is the social aspect of education. It is I

site. In spite of this, however, I thousands of pilgrims visit Lumbini every year, in reverence of the spiritual and moral values that the Buddha prescribed as a I basis for achieving inner tranquility, tolerance, and compassion. I I felt very strongly that the site must be developed. On returning to Katmandu, I discussed with the King and I members of his government how best to develop it. The King assured me of the cooperation of his government in any action I that the international community might take. I I I I Secretary-General U Thant with His Majesty King Mahendra at the Royal Palace, 13 April 1967. I One of the most important days of my life was April 14, 1967, when His Majesty King Mahendra of Nepal sent me to Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, in his helicopter. Lumbini, the capital of Nepal, is a very sacred place for Buddhists all over the world; it stands on an equal footing with the greatest shrines of other world religions. I I was struck by the isolation of the site and its comparative inaccessibility to ordinary pilgrims and tourists. A twenty-one- kilometer bullock cart track, impassable in the rainy season, is the only link between the nearest airport, Bhairawa, and the sacred I I One of the troubles of our times is that scientific and technological progress has been so rapid that moral and spiritual development has not been able to keep up with it. This is one of the tragedies of our times. Address at the opening of the African Summit Conference, Cairo, United Arab Republic, 17 July 1964. Our moral and spiritual progress must be able to cope with the rapidly developing technology. What is necessary in these tense times is to try to develop our moral and spiritual values, in order to catch up with the technological and scientific advances. Address to World Youth Forum, United Nations Headquarters, 18 March 1968.

U Thant in his library at home. On Succession and Retirement

... On December 21, 1971, the Security Council recommended that the General Assembly appoint Ambassador Waldheim of Austria to succeed me. I was so relieved and elated at the news of the Council's agreement on my successor that I immediately phoned my wife and daughter about my "liberation,* asking them to inform our friends of the extraordinary news. ... On the next day, Mr. Waldheim received the unanimous approval of the General Assembly. I closed my eyes and meditated. I prayed for the success of Mr. Waldheim and the United Nations. In some cases, I have succeedes in building bridges, or in eliminating tensions and conflicts between nations. Major examples of success were my efforts to mediate the conflicts between Cuba and the United States in 1962, and between India and Pakistan in 1965. Some of the minor ones were the conflicts between the Netherlands and Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, and between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. I also successfully mediated disputes between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, Spain and Equatorial Guinea, Algeria and Morocco, and Morocco and Mauritania. In addition, I could claim success in disputes between Nigeria and some of the African states, between Ruanda Burundi, and Thailand and Cambodia. In other cases I have not succeeded: instances of relations that have not improved are those between Israel and the Arab nations, the United States and (as of this writing ) North Vietnam, Cyprus and Turkey, South Africa and most of the African states, Southern Rhodesia and most of the rest of Africa and last but far from Secretary-General U Thant as he bids his farewell to delegates in the General Assembly Hall, 22 December 1971. least, China and the rest of the international community. Some of the successes and failures can be attributed to what is generally called the exercise of the good offices of the Secretary General. Others are attributive to the deliberative organs of the United Nations, such as the Security Council and the General Assembly. There were occasions when the Secretary General could act without the guidance of the principal deliberative organs; there were other occasions when the Secretary General could not act alone. In all cases, the Secretary General can never exercise his good offices without the consent of the parties primarily involved. This brings me to my concept of the Secretary General's role, which has its basis, of course, not only in my cultural and religious background, but in the Charter, and in the experience and practices of my two predecessors. Looking ahead, I hope that subsequent years we may all be imbued with this spirit of tolerance. How are we to practice tolerance? What states of mind are necessary for all of us to live together in peace with one another as good neighbors? How are we to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security? The answers to these questions lie, it seems to me, in our ability to bring out the best in us and to return to the basic moral and ethical principle of all great religions. Let us, therefore, dedicate ourselves anew to a new pledge: to make Muslims better Muslims, Hindus better Hindus, Christians better Christians and Buddhists better Buddhists. ... Let us together wish that, during the coming year, a new and relentless effort will be made in the great search for peace and unity in the world after the long and fateful recess we have known.

U Thant paying homage to the Lord Buddha with his mother Daw Nan Thaung (L) and his wife Daw Thein Tin (R) in Secretary-General's New Year Burma, February 1967. Message, Headquarters, 23 December 1966. Acknowledgements

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Marcy Murningham for her skilled editing, and to the U.N. photo section and U.N. archives for allowing me to do the research and providing the copies of the photographs.