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Description
Sporting events have an inherent ability to foster connections, build relationships, and unify groups around a shared objective. Athletes have historically used these events as platforms to impact political movements beyond the sports arena. Mega- sporting events, such as the Olympics, provide a venue for host nations to utilize soft power strategies to project their political values, cultivate their national image, and broadcast their status to billions of viewers across the globe. Soft power, when pertaining to international relations, refers to the ability to influence and shape perceptions through the appeal of cultural and political values rather than through coercion. In today’s competitive era of strategic competition, where every international platform helps nations gain an advantage, soft power tactics are equally as important as hard power and coercive strategies.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), a not-for-profit independent organization that oversees all individual National Olympic Committees, has developed rules and governing principles to help facilitate the Olympic Games. Rule 50 in the Olympic charter prevents athletes from demonstrating any political, religious, or racial propaganda at any Olympic sites and venues. Additionally, the IOC’s President, Thoms Bach, claims the Olympic games are not supposed to be political and the games and athletes participating in the event should not be used as political tools. However, since its inception in ancient Greece, the Olympic games—and its athletes—have been political and served as displays of national soft power and for public diplomacy.
Publication Date
7-3-2024
Recommended Citation
Ward, Heather and Brown, Sarah, "GNSI Decision Brief: Olympic Diplomacy: The Endurance of Soft Power" (2024). GNSI Decision Briefs. 20.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/gnsi_decision_briefs/20
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5038/PBDB5339
