The 2022 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games are taking place throughout the month of February, with events happening in various locations in northern China. The International Olympic Committee has asserted that the games are a means of ‘unifying humanity through elite sports’ and thus must aim to be politically neutral. However, the Beijing Games have faced controversy, with a number of countries diplomatically ‘boycotting’ the Games by refusing to send government representatives in protest. Such decisions have sparked a wider discussion around the tension between sports diplomacy and the unifying power of the Olympic spirit in global affairs. Join us just one week after the Closing Ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games to discuss the wider use of sports diplomacy in international relations as well as how sports can be used to unify, rather than divide, with a focus on European and Asian countries.

Speakers

 Thierry Zintz

Emeritus Professor…