Sport, diplomacy, and rapprochement

As an effective tool for lasting, treaty-bound rapprochement in the relationships between warring parties, states, or adversaries, sport has had a mixed track record. Just as sport can bring estranged people and nations closer together, it can also drive them further apart. In some cases, sporting contests or events act as preludes to conflict, covers for hard-power actions, and platforms for the dissemination of antidiplomatic slogans, actions, and behaviors. In order to promote the positive relationships between sport and rapprochement, a “new” area of grand, abstract theory and practice is described in this chapter: sports diplomacy. This new term describes an old practice: the strategic use of sport to bring strangers closer together, overcome xenophobia, and, ergo, mitigate and ideally eliminate the conditions that often lead to conflict.