This new publication may be of interest to readers of this blog: SOS Biafra by Dominik Matter is an analysis of Swiss foreign relations in the context of the Nigerian civil war (1967–1970).  «SOS Biafra» was the International Committee of the Red Cross’s appeal to the public, in May 1968, to support the relief mission in the secessionist area, which was completely isolated. Besides such public appeals, it were images of starving children that temporarily brought the war and the impending humanitarian crisis in Nigeria to the public attention in the West.

Swiss authorities faced numerous political challenges related to Biafra: the ICRC mission, the Bührle affair, the so-called “Biafra propaganda” by the Geneva Markpress agency, or the petition for the recognition of Biafra all indicate the complexity of the subject. On the basis of this constellation, Dominik Matter traces the interaction between government and non-government agents in the development of Swiss foreign relations in the context of the Nigerian civil war.

The open-access book is published as volume 5 of Quaderni di Dodis, a publication series of the Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland (DDS) research center.

Further information and download: dodis.ch/q5