The United Nations, Decolonization and Development Aid, 1949-1961

1 The London School of Economics and Political Science In Pursuit of Development: The United Nations, Decolonization and Development Aid, 1949-1961 Aaron Dean Rietkerk A thesis submitted to the Department of International History of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, June 2015. 2 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rest with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgment is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorization does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 98,669 words. 3 Abstract This thesis examines a number of specific efforts by the United Nations to offer and administer development aid to newly independent and ‘underdeveloped’ countries from the Global South during the decades following World War Two. Broadly, this thesis casts light on the competitive nature of postwar international development. In doing so, it examines development as a contest, whereby, the United Nations sought to stake out a claim to its share of the global development process during the 1950s and early 1960s. Crucially, this thesis sets this struggle against the backdrop of the increasing demand for development aid that accompanied the advent of mass decolonization in Africa by 1960. Consequently, this gave rise to a heightened competition over what type of aid best suited newly independent countries and who should administer it. Here, this study demonstrates how the UN contended with both bilateral and multilateral aid options outside the Organization, as well as, the challenges associated with providing development aid to countries that requested non- colonial assistance yet jealously guarded their newly acquired sovereignty. Finally, it was through the UN’s belief in its development directive, its unique ‘brand’ of aid and the value of its operational pursuits that it added a crucial dimension to the development discourse of the period. At the UN, this resulted in the expansion of the UN’s development reach and development becoming a primary, if not the chief focus of the Organization during the First UN Development Decade of the 1960s. At the same time, it was during the postwar decades that the Organization helped to give development a global quality through a concerted effort towards the internationalization of development aid. Altogether, this thesis extends the boundaries of the study of postwar development by demonstrating how the UN functioned as an important autonomous institution and actor as it promoted economic and social development through multilateral development aid. Furthermore, this study challenges traditional interpretations of the UN that depict the Organization as solely a foreign policy tool of its member states or as an Organization predominantly concerned with peace and security issues during this era. 4 Table of Contents Abstract 3 Table of Contents 4 Acknowledgments 5 List of Abbreviations 6 Introduction 9 Chapter One 29 The Spadework of Development: Technical Assistance and Pre-Investment Aid at the UN, 1949-59 Chapter Two 76 ‘Better Billions’: Financing Mass Decolonization at the UN, 1959-60 Chapter Three 127 ‘The Constructive Use of Abundance’: The UN World Food Program and the evolution of the international food aid system during the postwar decades Chapter Four 168 Decolonization and Development: The UN Civilian Mission to the Congo, June 1960-December 1960 Chapter Five 216 Decolonization and Development: The UN Civilian Mission to the Congo, 1961 Conclusion 246 Appendix I 254 Bibliography 255 5 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the help of many individuals who supported me through the course of my doctoral studies. First, I would like to thank my supervisor, Nigel Ashton. I am indebted to him for his consistent and invaluable guidance throughout my time at the LSE. This includes his timely counsel and direction on this thesis and a genuine interest in my personal well-being and that of my family. I could not have hoped for a better supervisor. I am also grateful for the support of my adviser Tanya Harmer who kindly read a number of the early drafts of my chapters and provided much needed advice and encouragement. Over the past four years, I have also received helpful academic advice from others at the LSE International History Department including from Roham Alvandi, Antony Best and Taylor Sherman. Further, I am grateful to the International History Department for allowing me to teach during my second-year of study and the administrative support provided by Matthew Betts, Nayna Bhatti, Milada Fomina and Demetra Frini. My gratitude also extends to the number of funding bodies that helped to facilitate my studies in the form of scholarships or grants. These include the London School of Economics, the International History Department at the LSE, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR), the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University, the Eisenhower Presidential Library, the Roosevelt Study Center, the Sir Richard Stapley Educational Trust and the Royal Historical Society. A special thanks to the History Department at Columbia University where I studied during the fall of 2013 as a Visiting Research Scholar on a generous mobility grant from the LSE. I also owe thanks to the many archivists who assisted me with this project. In particular, I would like to recognize the archival staffs at the UN Archives and the Dag Hammarskjold Library who kindly located numerous documents for me while I conducted research at their facilities, and thereafter, sent me a number of useful sources electronically. Parts of this thesis also benefited from the extensive feedback I received from expert commentators at conferences and seminars including from Elizabeth Borgwardt, Alan Dobson, Chris Endy and Piers Ludlow. I am also grateful for the incisive feedback from the two anonymous reviewers of a journal article I published through The International History Review, much of the content of which is found in parts of this thesis. Moreover, I would like to offer a special thanks to several PhD colleagues and friends who sacrificially read and offered feedback on this thesis, especially Jake Avila, Betty Banks, Zhong Zhong Chen, Brett De Bie, Tim Douglass, Wade Harrington, Sara Hess, Simon Toner, Chad Van Ginkel and Vinoj Zachariah. On a more personal note, I offer my deepest thanks to my friends and family both in the UK and US. There are far too many to mention here by name but I am nonetheless extremely indebted to them for their love and support. However, I wish to thank specifically my parents, Ben and Lois, and my wife’s parents, Randy and Siri, for their constant prayers and valuable encouragement. Next, I must thank my daughter Avery who was one when I started this process and now just celebrated her fifth birthday. Her joy and laughter were a welcomed distraction (mostly) from the rigors of doctoral studies. Lastly, my wife Linnea has seen me through every single step in this endeavor. There are hardly enough ways to express my abundant gratitude to her for the selfless aid (if I can use that term) she has provided. 6 List of Abbreviations ACC Administrative Committee on Co-ordination AFEA American Farm Economic Association ANC Armée Nationale Congolaise APP American Presidency Project CDF UN Capital Development Fund CENIS Center for International Studies at MIT DAG Development Assistance Group DDEL Dwight D. Eisenhower Library DEA UN Department of Economic Affairs DLF Development Loan Fund DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo ECA UN Economic Commission for Africa ECLA UN Economic Commission for Latin America ECOSOC Economic and Social Council of the United Nations EPTA Expanded Program of Technical Assistance Exim Export-Import Bank FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FFHC Freedom from Hunger Campaign FO Foreign Office of the United Kingdom FRUS Foreign Relations of the United States IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization IDA International Development Association 7 IDA International Development Authority ILO International Labor Organization IMF International Monetary Fund INEAC Institut National pour l’Etude d’Agronomie du Congo Belge ITU International Telecommunication Union LAMCO Liberia-American-Swedish Minerals Company MESC Middle East Supply Centre MHS Massachusetts Historical Society MNC Mouvement National Congolais MONUC UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo MSP Mutual Security Program NARA National Archives and Records Administration of the United States NIEO New International Economic Order NSL National Swedish Library ODS Official Document System of the United Nations OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OEEC Organization for European Economic Cooperation OPEX Operational and Executive Program of the United Nations PL 480 Public Law 480 RSC Roosevelt Study Center SIDA Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency SUNFED Special United

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