and bipolar] ideologies.”56 After the reinvasion of Belgian troops in the Congo following its independence in 1960, the UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted Resolution 143 in 1960, establishing the UN Operation in the Congo (ONUC). However, due to political alignments in the UNSC during the Cold War, ONUC refused to engage in a military offensive; this was argued to have failed to prevent the escalation of the crisis, arousing “strong criticism that the organization privileged Western agendas and interests at the expense of anticolonial and Afro-Asian aspirations.”57 The role of the UN and the international community was marginally more successful in the case of the decolonization of the Portuguese colonies between the 1960s and 1970s. For example, in 1961, the UN established the Special Committee for the Territories under Portuguese Administration.58 The Special Committee’s report was very critical of Portugal’s colonial policies, emphasizing that a form of colonial subjugation existed in the colonies and that “no degree of reform could satisfy the aspirations of the inhabitants of Portugal’s colonies.”59 The Committee also called for ending all military assistance to Portugal. Importantly, the Committee allowed for the participation of national liberation movements from former Portuguese colonies, including the National Front for the Liberation of Angola and the Mozambique Liberation Front. These movements believed that independence could be achieved through elements of diplomatic activity, but they were also committed to armed struggle. Within this frame, the Decolonization Committee recognized the legitimacy of armed struggle 56 Anna Lovelace, ‘When Global Governance Wins: The Role of the United Nations in Decolonization’ (2014) UC Merced Undergraduate Research Journal 7(2), 79 <https://doi. org/10.5070/M472027451> accessed 5 April 2023. 57 Caio Simões de Araújo, ‘“A Crisis of Confidence”: The postcolonial moment and the diplomacy of decolonization at the United Nations, ca. 1961’ in Eggers et al., (n 40), 108. 58 1699 (XVI). Non-compliance of the Government of Portugal with Chapter XI of the Charter of the United Nations and with General Assembly resolution 1542 (XV) (19 December 1961) UNGA Res A/RES/1699(XVI) <http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/UNGA/1961/113. pdf> accessed 5 April 2023. 59 Aurora Almada e Santos, ‘The United Nations and Portuguese colonies, 1961–19621: Information gathering and the evolving interpretation of Article 73(e)’ in Eggers et al., (n 40), 181. 16