Kick the Russians Out

The Indecency of the Olympic Games, Newsday, February 18, 2018. "Anyone who thinks that politics are new to the Olympics doesn’t know the Games. But there are politics, and then there are politics. The politics of the 2018 Winter Games are blatant. And they’re working."

The Olympics And International Order, Part 3

The Olympics And International Order, Part 3, Forbes, August 2, 2016, "For the past two days, I’ve been commenting on the relationship between the Olympic Games and international order. On Sunday, I summarized the founding ideology of the modern Games, which were, in a word, supposed to promote a particular conception of civilization. On Monday, I explored how the idea of the civilized nation fit into this framework. But of course, the idea of the nation-state implies the concept of patriotism — or nationalism. The Olympics have never quite known what to do with nationalism. On the one hand, the modern Games were supposed to reinforce national loyalties in an era when they seemed threatened by mass movements such as socialism. On the other hand, nationalism was supposed to be a tolerant force, and to be embodied in a civilized nation that accepted and embodied Western institutions and ideas about world order."

The Olympics And International Order, Part 2

The Olympics And International Order, Part 2, Forbes, August 1, 2016, "The modern Olympics, those that began in 1896, were founded, as I discussed yesterday, on four pillars: they were for men only, they were for amateurs only, they were for civilized nations only, and they were democratic, in the sense that they were equally open to all classes. The pillar of democratic sport survives; the pillars of female exclusion and amateurism, obviously, have not. Today. I’ll turn to the final pillar: nationalism, and the idea of the civilized nations."

The Olympics And International Order, Part 1

The Olympics And International Order, Part 1, Forbes, July 31, 2016, "Friday’s opening of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, will mark a highlight in the sporting calendar. But the Olympics – or, more properly, the International Olympic Committee that controls them – are also just another international organization. The Olympics tell us a lot about how society and the international system have changed, for good and ill, since the modern Games began in 1896 in Athens, Greece."

IOC Should Have Kicked Russian Athletes Out of the Olympic Games in Rio

IOC Should Have Kicked Russian Athletes Out of the Olympic Games in Rio, Newsday, July 31, 2016, "When the Olympic Games open in Brazil on Friday, Russian athletes will be there. Not all of them, but many. It would be better for the games, and the other athletes, if the International Olympic Committee had banned Russia."

International Sports, National Dictators

Olympics’ Edifice Complex Is Ultimately a Loser, Newsday, February 3, 2014. "The Olympic Winter Games start Friday in Sochi, Russia. They were supposed to cost $12 billion, but the latest estimate is higher: more than $50 billion. Small wonder that, increasingly, the nations that want to host international sporting events are corrupt, publicity-seeking dictatorships or deluded Keynesians."

The US, Britain, and the Security of the 2012 Olympic Games

U.S. Should Assist Britain in Meeting Security Threats to the 2012 London Olympic Games, with Steven Bucci, Luke Coffey, Jessica Zuckerman, and Robin Simcox, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #2711, July 16, 2012. "The 2012 Summer Olympic Games and the Paralympics will be held from late July through early September in London. They are an obvious target for attacks by radical Islamist terrorists, as well as anti-capitalist anarchists, supporters of various national causes, and other groups. Britain is one of the world’s most experienced and capable practitioners of counterterrorism, and though the threats to the Summer Games are serious, Britain is well-placed to cope with them. But the scale of the threat and the strain that they will place on Britain’s armed forces mean that the U.S. can and should provide supporting assistance to British authorities."

Should We Want the Games?

Obama's Olympic Audience, Heritage Foundation Foundry, October 1, 2009. "Today, President Obama flies to Copenhagen to lobby the International Olympic Committee to award the 2016 Summer Games to Chicago. So we know that President Obama wants the Olympics. But do the Olympics want the United States?"

The IOC on 9/11

The IOC on 9/11, Contentions, September 30, 2009. "Does President Obama’s trip to Copenhagen tomorrow to lobby for Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics mean that victory is in the bag for the Windy City? Ramesh Ponnuru, for one, believes so, and quite a few others have echoed his thought that the president would hardly dare to go—especially after he said on September 14 that he was too busy to make the trip—and risk looking foolish if Chicago lost. They may be right, but my take is a little different."

The State Department on Human Rights in China

Not Good Sports, March 13, 2008, Contentions.