LAX Leader

When French historian and educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the modern Olympics in 1896, he envisioned promoting peace through sport. In reality, the Olympics have often reflected the geopolitics of their times.

Multiple wars are ongoing, political instability is affecting France, and anxiety surrounds the U.S. presidential election. Earlier today, tensions rose when Olympic officials moved to suppress U.S. investigations into a Chinese doping scandal.

USC experts in foreign policy and international relations are available for commentary.

Contact: Nina Raffio, raffio@usc.edu or (213) 442-8464; USC Media Relations, uscnews@usc.edu or (213) 740-2215

The Olympics: Apolitical in theory, but not in practice

“In the world we have, we know that the Olympics are political. The United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and earlier, in 1968, two Black American runners raised their fists in a black power salute on the winners’ podium,” said Gregory Treverton, professor of the practice of international relations and spatial sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

“The main benefit of the Olympics from a political perspective probably is the athletes themselves, getting to get to know their counterparts from other countries. The right approach for the United States is to field the best of its athletes and work hard to make sure they compete in the most sportsman-like way possible. It is inevitable that medal counts will be news, but the more that can be discouraged, the better. The Olympics should be about athletes, not nations.”

Contact: treverto@usc.edu

The Russian Olympic ban explained

In Paris, athletes from Russia and Belarus will compete as Individual Neutral Athletes without national flags or anthems and excluded from the official medal table.

“Russia is effectively banned from the 2024 Summer Olympics because of its war in Ukraine. Ideally, this ban would work as another sanction in an effort to pressure Russia to stop the war,” said Robert English, an associate professor of international relations at USC Dornsife.

“Practically it will have zero such effect and mainly serves to further alienate ordinary Russians against the West,” he said.

Contact: renglish@usc.edu

Disruptions during games likely

Jonathan Aronson, a professor at USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism and USC Dornsife warned that due to its high-profile nature, potential demonstrations or acts of violence could occur during the Olympics. These include a Russian attack aimed at distracting global attention from Ukraine efforts by right-wing factions to undermine President Macron road closures travel disruptions or a major cyberattack disrupting events.

“If the Olympics proceed without significant disruptions it will be considered a major success and a huge relief for organizers,” he said. “While there will be many touching personal stories during these games it is unrealistic to expect widespread public diplomacy or unifying atmosphere.”

Contact: aronson@usc.edu

The Olympics and reputational security

“We live in an era where reputation is central to national security. International actors compete to showcase strengths while revealing adversaries' weaknesses real or imagined," said Nicholas Cull expert in public diplomacy at USC Annenberg.

“Personally I’ll be watching out for athletes from lesser-known countries like Kosovo whose women's judo wins by Majlinda Kelmendi in 2016 bolstered arguments for their nationhood.”

Contact: cull@usc.edu

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