A Delicate Dance: International Organizations, National Liberation Movements, and the End of Empire
Konrad Adenauer Lecture by Prof Andrew Thompson

Anti-colonial movements, Cold War rivalries, and the growing influence of newly independent states in the 1960s forced international and humanitarian organizations to redefine their roles on the global stage. Were they instruments of domination or tools of emancipation? Could they act in sympathy with, or even in concert with, national liberation movements? What forces shaped these interactions?

Andrew Thompson, Professor of Global and Imperial History at the University of Oxford, addresses these questions in his Konrad Adenauer Lecture at the Cologne Center for Advanced Studies in International History and Law (CHL). The lecture, titled “A Delicate Dance: International Organizations, National Liberation Movements, and the End of Empire,” focuses on four actors: the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Council of Churches, and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

Professor Thompson delves into the challenges these organizations faced as they navigated relationships with national liberation movements and predominantly Western donors while redefining the boundaries and legitimacy of humanitarian aid.

The lecture is part of the Konrad Adenauer Lecture Series at the CHL. As a central research institution at the University of Cologne funded by the Alfred Landecker Foundation, the CHL promotes interdisciplinary collaboration between international law and history. The lecture series will feature leading scholars who will address critical questions about democracy, human rights, and global governance by shedding light on the intersections of these fields.

Watch the full lecture here.