ABSTRACT
In the preceding chapters we have tried to answer the questions asked at the beginning by identifying political ethics as one of the Secretary-General’s instruments of power, reconstructing Hammarskjöld’s specifi c political ethics and verifying their realization in concrete political concepts and instruments. This approach has covered the institutional, personal and applied dimensions of Hammarskjöld’s political ethics. The respective results were summarized at the end of each chapter and need not be repeated here. This fi nal chapter will examine the relevance and limits of Hammarskjöld’s political ethics and the associated instruments (in effect an extension of the applied dimension). Second, it will deal with the question of a ‘Hammarskjöld tradition’ and its reception by his successors. By way of conclusion and with reference to the current Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the relevance of Hammarskjöld’s political ethics for the challenges facing international relations and the United Nations at the beginning of the twenty-fi rst century will be discussed.
