During
his second term, Hammarskjöld developed
an even more active political profile, aimed at preventive
measures to deter war and international tensions. As he
saw it, one of the secretary-general’s tasks was to promote
Cold War rapprochement by mitigating outstanding Cold
War issues and potential flash points. This implied the
safeguarding of newly independent states to prevent them
from being drawn into the superpower rivalry. Applying
his ideas to the Congo, he came into conflict with Soviet
leader Nikita Khrushchev, who in September 1960 de-
manded Hammarskjöld’s replacement.
Hammarskjöld remained in office but met with in-
creasing difficulties as he tried to mediate conflicts in the
newly independent Congo and as he fought off criticism
from some UN members, most notably the Soviet Union.
He was killed on 18 September 1961 in a plane crash near
the Katanga-North Rhodesia border while on a peace mis-
sion to the Congo. In late 1961, Hammarskjöld was the first
person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously.
His spiritual journal Markings, first published in Swedish
in 1963, bears witness to his upstanding character and the
centrality of his Christian faith to his life’s work.
Norbert Götz
See also
Suez Crisis; Sweden; United Nations
References
Cordier, Andrew W., ed. Public Papers of the Secretaries-General of the United Nations,
Vols. 2–5, Dag Hammarskjöld. New York: Columbia University Press, 1972–1975.
Hammarskjöld, Dag. Markings. New York: Knopf, 1964.
Heller, Peter B. The United Nations under Dag Hammarskjold, 1953–1961. Lanham,
MD: Scarecrow, 2001.
Urquhart, Brian. Hammarskjold. New York: Knopf, 1972.
Specially constructed areas, usually underground, designed to withstand
nuclear attack. Hardened sites are also usually able to withstand biological
and chemical attacks. Hardening is also undertaken to guard against the
effects of electromagnetic pulse (EMP), a by-product of nuclear detonations
that can incapacitate communications and electronic components.
Hardened sites were built with great urgency beginning in the late
1950s, upon the advent of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Hard-
ened sites were also designed to protect key command and control centers.
The most common hardened sites are underground silos, covered with many
Hardened Sites
893
Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld was the secretary
general of the United Nations from 1953 to 1961 and
died on a mission to the Congo. Hammarskjöld was later
awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. (Corel)
Hardened Sites
feet of concrete and topped with massive steel doors.
These silos contain
intercontinental nuclear-tipped missiles. Command centers for the silos are
also hardened. In case of a first strike by the adversary, the hardened missile
silos—at least in theory—would protect the site, thereby allowing the nation
under attack to launch a credible counterstrike.
Typical of hardened sites is the now-decommissioned Atlas E missile
site outside Wamego, Kansas, which was constructed in the mid-1960s and
designed to withstand a direct nuclear hit. Deep underground are 16,000
square feet housing the command center, several elevators, living quarters,
bathrooms, a kitchen, and recreational facilities. The site contained large
stores of food, water, clothing, and medical supplies so that the crew could
live underground without additional assistance for a prolonged period. The
site was also outfitted with its own electrical generation system and air purifi-
cation apparatus designed to filter out chemical and biological agents as well
as radioactive contamination.
Air bursts are ineffective against hardened sites, which may only be
attacked by ground burst nuclear weapons, usually smart bombs aimed to
strike the very door of the missile silo and then penetrate and explode. Some
hardened sites are currently so deep underground that existing weapons can-
not disturb them.
Spencer C. Tucker
See also
Air Burst; Ground Burst; Missiles, Intercontinental Ballistic
References
Aldridge, Robert C. First Strike! The Pentagon’s Strategy for Nuclear War. Boston: South
End Press, 1983.
Sagan, Scott D. Moving Targets: Nuclear Strategy and National Security. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1990.
United States Bureau of Naval Personnel. Principles of Nuclear Missiles and Guided
Weapons. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1972.
Officially, the “Report on the Future Tasks of the Alliance,” presented at the
14 December 1967 meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s
(NATO) North Atlantic Council and authored by Belgian Foreign Minister
Pierre Harmel. The basic premises of the report were predicated upon the
parallel policies of maintaining adequate defenses while seeking a relaxation
of tensions in East-West relations.
In the second half of the 1960s, NATO faced new and unforeseen chal-
lenges. In 1966 France withdrew from the organization’s integrated military
command. Member nations’ decreased financial resources and individual
interests had also put NATO’s internal cohesion in peril. At the same time,
894
Harmel Report
Harmel Report
(December 1967)