“A crisis of confidence”

The Congo Crisis is one of the most emblematic cases of the decolonization era. Conversely, India’s military move to put an end to Portuguese rule in South Asia is rarely mentioned outside the specialized literature. Yet, these cases overlapped in 1961, when both produced a polarizing diplomatic debate about the nature of international relations and its main institution, the United Nations (UN), at a time of rapid political change and growing articulation of the postcolonial world. I argue that crises unfolding in the Congo and in Portuguese-held territories in South Asia in December 1961 are representative of a shifting and contested politics of decolonization within the UN.