A comparative study of policies on international relations in Olympic sports: The experiences of Greece and Australia (original) (raw)
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SAIS Review, 2011
The Olympic Games are a multinational and multisport event with unparalleled global allure. As athletes from more than 200 countries convene to compete, they are guided by the "Fundamental Principles of Olympism," which call for a mutually acceptable quest for excellence through challenge. Critics of Olympism claim the zero-sum nature of competitive challenge promotes extreme patriotism and international animosity rather than cooperative spirit. In light of this criticism and the resilience of the Olympic Games, this paper considers the proposition that athletic competition is incompatible with the goals of the Games, but ultimately rejects that view and provides two policy recommendations to allow the Olympic Games to realize their full potential as a global assembling event. T he Olympic Games are a multinational and multisport event with unparalleled global allure. Indeed, no other event in the world, sporting or otherwise, compares in the broad range of attention that the Olympic Games attract. To exemplify this, consider the case of the 2008 Olympic Games held in Beijing: all but one of the 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) that existed at the time of the Opening Ceremonies sent athletic delegations. Whether with just one athlete as in the case of Nauru or 639 athletes as in the case of China, NOCs and national governments consider representation at the Olympic Games as legitimizing their presence in the international communitas. Notice that not even the United Nations (UN) commands such level of membership, commitment, and involvement. The more than 4.5 billion television viewers that followed the efforts of the more than 10,500 athletes from all over the world, and the fact that more than 100 sovereigns and heads of governments and states were present in Beijing provide another measure of the Olympic Games' import. 1
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Sport continues to occupy a rather ambiguous position within the context of politics, foreign policy and diplomatic relations. While one can identify a long list of cases where sport has been credited with diverting conflict, contributing to peace negotiations and helping develop better cultural understanding, there are also many cases where sport has not only fueled conflict but also served as its source. This paper seeks to: (1) highlight the unique features of sport as a cultural site and practice in relation to diplomacy; (2) briefly overview some key dimensions and limitations of sport as an instrument of diplomacy; and (3) offer a preliminary examination of contemporary sport organizations and events in order to understand the implications of the transformational shift occurring between state diplomacy and what might be termed “corporate diplomacy” within an increasingly global context.
Globalistics and Globalization Studies: Global Transformations and Global Future (Reprint), 2016
Many social scientists see Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as emerging powers. Analyzing to what extent these countries have the size, the resources, and the will to achieve great power status they find that all these countries are the largest countries with the biggest economies in their regions and play an important role in the global polity. The effects of symbolic power accumulation, however, are frequently ignored and signfficantly underestimated. The paper contributes to the discussion on emerging powers by analyzing global symbolic power formation. Therefore, a field of global symbolism, namely the global field of sport is reviewed. Sport in general can be seen es a mechanism to sfrengthen the national identity of any country and its vision of itself. Hence, the paper argues that the investment into sport is a useful strategl to improve citizens' self-perception as an emerging power and to gain support for their 'expanding' politics. Furthermore, it argues hat the power status of emerging powers cen be read off from the supply and success in international and global sport events. Consequently, it is not of great surprise that emerging countries have started hosing major sport event recently (Olympic Summer Games 2008 and Olympic Winter Games 2022 in China; Soccer World Championship 2010 in South Africa, Commonwealth Games 2010 and Cricket World Cup 2011 in India, Olympic Winter Games 2014 and the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia, FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Olympic Summer Games 2016 in Brazil).
Beyond the Acronyms: Sport Diplomacy and the Classification of the International Olympic Committee
Diplomacy often finds itself reduced to actions centred on states. However, after the Cold War, international relations and diplomacy have expanded with different actors growing into significant roles, particularly in the increase of diplomatic relations in the context of sport. The classification and significance of other actors remains under-researched in relation to sport, with literature focusing more on the growth of new and varying practices of diplomacy. This analysis contends that there is a need to interrogate fundamental components of modern diplomacy—with the actor being the focus—more specifically the classification of sports organisations in diplomacy. It is relevant as a more accurate understanding of sports organisations will contribute to how diplomatic studies can analyse and evaluate modern diplomacy within the context of sport. The International Olympic Committee is the actor used to illustrate how problematic classifications currently in the academic literature translate into weak and reduced analysis and evaluation of its role and significance in diplomacy. As counterpoint, this analysis proposes an analytical framework of socio-legal theory that harnesses legal regulation as a benchmark to classify an actor’s capacity within a society. In consequence, the IOC is as an active and significant contributor to the ever expanding and complex diplomatic environment and wider society.
Many social scientists see Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as emerging powers. Analyzing to what extent these countries have the size, the resources, and the will to achieve great power status they find that all these countries are the largest countries with the biggest economies in their regions and play an important role in the global polity. The effects of symbolic power accumulation, however, are frequently ignored and significantly underestimated. The paper contributes to the discussion on emerging powers by analyzing global symbolic power formation. Therefore, a field of global symbolism, namely the global field of sport is reviewed. Sport in general can be seen as a mechanism to strengthen the national identity of any country and its vision of itself. Hence, the paper argues that the investment into sport is a useful strategy to improve citizens' self-perception as an emerging power and to gain support for their 'expanding' politics. Furthermore, it argues that the power status of emerging powers can be read off from the supply and success in international and global sport events. Consequently, it is not of great surprise that emerging countries have started hosing major sport event recently (Olympic Summer Games 2008 and Olympic Winter Games 2022 in China; Soccer World Championship 2010 in South Africa, Commonwealth Games 2010 and Cricket World Cup 2011 in India; Olympic Winter Games 2014 and the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia, FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Olympic Summer Games 2016 in Brazil).