April 2026

Leaders Reach for Dag Hammarskjöld In moments of global uncertainty, something interesting happens. Leaders begin to reach backward. Not for policy or strategy, but for language and understanding. Recently, in a speech at the In Defence of Democracy summit in Barcelona, Ireland’s president, Catherine Connolly, closed her remarks with a familiar line from former UN

You Can Stand in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza and Never Learn Who He Was A friend recently visited Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza in Manhattan. It’s a lovely space—trees, greenery, and rotating public art installations. In many ways, it feels like exactly the kind of environment Dag Hammarskjöld himself would have appreciated. Quiet. Thoughtful. A little removed from

Dag Hammarskjöld: The Secretary-General No One Expected to Matter They needed someone acceptable. Not too bold or controversial… Someone who wouldn’t upset the balance that already existed. The position ostensibly mattered, but the man—ideally—would not. So they chose him. His name was Dag Hammarskjöld, and at the time, he was not the obvious choice. Dag