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Oral history interview with James O. C. Jonah, 2001.

Creator: Jonah, James O. C.
Project: United Nations intellectual history project (UNIHP).
(see all project interviews)
Phys. Desc. :Transcript 89 pages Sound recording 3 digital audio tapes
Location: Columbia Center for Oral History
Full CLIO record >>

Biographical Note

Former Under-Secretary General of Political Affairs, Former Political Advisor in the Office of the Secretary General, Assistant Secretary General for Personnel Services, and Former Sierra Leone Permanent Representative to the United Nations

Scope and Contents

Early life: Born and raised in Sierra Leone; Suez Canal Crisis leads to interest in international politics Education: Trained in classics, Lincoln University, Joint M.A. International Relations Boston University and Harvard University; PhD Harvard University; Friedrich Fellow; Met George Padmore and Kwame Nkrumah, Career: Secretary General of Sierra Leone Independence Movement (SLIM), United Nations, Office of Research and Collection of Information; Office of Personnel, Office of the Secretary General, and Assignments in the Middle East and Somalia. Themes: World War II; decolonization; anti-colonialism; African and black experience in the United States; Sierra Leona independence; Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld; United Nations (UN) anti-intellectualism; African nationalism; internationalism; Soviet Union and United States (U.S.) relations; relationship of G-77 and the Economic Commission of Latin America (ECLA) to U.S.; U.S. opposition to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); U.S. relations with Middle East; New International Economic Order (NIEO); global negotiations; nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) relationship to UN; international civil service; UN conferences; Secretary-General U Thant; Secretary-General Pérez de Cuéllar; Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali; UN appointments; Kassebaum amendment; UN research; Nyere Commission; end of Communism; human rights; development and security; reminiscences of Somalia coup; and U.S. relationship to U.N.

Subjects

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, 2004

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