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Source: Le Monde Décrypté |
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A tool of soft power |
Key sporting events like the Olympics or the football World Cup often help states improve their global image. Hosting them allows to: |
Demonstrate economic strength, Show organizational and technological capacities, Promote national prestige, Attract investments and tourism.
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But in other cases, it also creates scandals. The states’ flaws are then placed under the spotlights. When Qatar hosted the World Cup, there were many scandals around human rights and pollution. |
When conflicts extend to sports |
Tensions in global geopolitics can impact these events. Rivalries extend into sport competition. During the Cold War, U.S. and USSR athletes were competing for more than just medals. They competed for their country’s prestige in the light of the broader rivalry that opposed their states. |
These events also come with security concerns. Games between states whose relations are tensed can lead to violence between supporters. The latter or athletes can also suffer attacks. During the Munich Olympics, 11 Israeli athletes were murdered. |
Indeed, given the media coverage of these events, they also become a mean to express oppositions. The Israel-Premier Tech cycling team faced pro-Palestine protests during a race in Spain. The team decided to change its name for the next season and lost its sponsor. The company Premier Tech pulled out. |
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Boycotts as a weapon |
Sporting events can also serve as pressure tools during conflicts. Boycotting one or more countries from global competition is a way to punish them. There are different types of boycotts. A state’s athletes can be banned from a competition. Or they can participate but only under a neutral banner. In that case they cannot compete under their own flag and no national anthem will be played. This has been the case for Russia for years now. |
Another form of boycott is to remove a country’s hosting rights. By not being able to host these events, the country loses the associated economic benefits and prestige. |
In the past, there have also been cases where states collectively boycotted the host. During the Cold War, the West did not send their athletes to the Moscow Olympics. Four years later, the L.A. Olympics were boycotted by USSR and the Eastern bloc. |
Athletes as political actors |
Athletes have great influence. They can use their posture to deliver political messages. This can be done through gestures, statements, or symbols. Their acts go beyond domestic politics. The events being watched worldwide, it instantly gives them a global impact. Governments are usually forced to react or take a stance given the exposure. Sporting institutions often try to limit political expression. They seek to preserve neutrality. There are rules against political gestures. Athletes can even be banned from the games. |
Throughout history there have been strong symbols. At the Mexico Olympics, two U.S. athletes raised black-gloved fists on the podium. This was a symbol of the Black Power movement. They protested racial discrimination in the U.S. Later, a quarterback kneeled during the U.S. national anthem. He protested police violence and racial injustice. Football players with roots in Kosovo made the double-header eagle gesture after scoring against Serbia. This reflected the deep tensions between Serbia and Kosovo. More recently, Iran’s women football team did not sing their national anthem as a sign of protest against the regime. The global reaction was intense. The regime labeled them as traitors. People worried about their safety and their families’. Australia offered refuge to some of them. |
Sometimes, the athletes’ acts can trigger positive effects. This happened when table tennis reshaped geopolitics with the so called “ping-pong diplomacy”. |
Ping-pong diplomacy |
This term refers to a minor sporting exchange that triggered one of the most important geopolitical shifts of the 20th century. After decades of hostility, the U.S.-China relations improved. |
The U.S. and China were hostile to each other during the first half of the Cold War. China had been taken over by communists. The U.S. recognized Taiwan as China. But tensions grew between China and the USSR. This created a strategic opening. Both China and the U.S. had interests in rebalancing against the USSR. |
In the early 70’s, a simple encounter triggered the broader diplomatic move. A U.S. table tennis player boarded by accident a Chinese team bus. One of the Chinese players greeted him warmly and offered a gift. The moment was photographed and widely publicized. Events moved quickly after that. China invited the U.S. team to visit, which sent a signal of openness. U.S. officials then followed. This simple event led to normalization in U.S.-China relations. |
Sports therefore play a role in global relations. They are a tool of influence, prestige, and economic benefits. They can either ease relations or worsen them, depending on how they are used by the competing states. |
Decoding geopolitics isn’t a job. It’s survival. |
Joy |
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