The Geopolitics of PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018
The Winter Olympics are always a good venue for showing national pride. Some even view the Games as a microcosm of the world and what could be: peace among nations where each participating country is respected for its unique culture, its regional flair, and for some, the ability to produce wonderful things for the world, no matter how small their country may be.
But reality creeps in and real-world politics have a real-world effect on the Olympics. It happens at all the Games, but this year seems especially fraught with geopolitical tension. Here’s a summary of what we’re going into beginning February 9, when the 2018 Winter Olympics begin in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Russia is a big country with a long history of dominating the winter Olympics. Gold medals are a matter of national pride for Russians, making recent events even more stinging for the leaders and people of this country. Those recent events include a 3-year investigation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) into doping of Russian athletes who participated in the 2014 winter Olympics. This was a doping scandal that went through all levels of influence, from the athletes right on up to the Russian government, including President Vladimir Putin.
The details are expertly outlined in a Netflix Original called ‘Icarus’. Thanks to the head of the doping program’s lab, who became a whistleblower, the IOC was able to bring evidence of doping. Gold medals were stripped of 2014 athletes and Russia is not able to attend the games in PyeongChang. Individual Russian athletes who test clean may attend the games and compete under the Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR) title. If they win a medal, the Russian anthem will not be played. At first glance, this may seem to be only a sports issue, not a political issue. But given other nefarious activities allegedly carried out by the Russian government in recent times — possible electoral malpractice, for example — it does speak to the character of the Russian government’s integrity in a much broader context.
For Japan, the PyeongChang Olympics come at a rather interesting time. Three years ago, after more than sixty years of bitterness, the two countries were supposed to have reached an agreement on the ‘comfort women’ of WWII. A bilateral agreement was signed, but now seems to be falling apart — Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe is reported to have turned down the invitation from South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in to attend the opening ceremonies on February 9. Athletes will attend, however.
The Olympics are a symbol of international cooperation — they always have been. Likewise, there has usually been some sort of security threat going on as well. If you remember the 2014 Sochi games in Russia, many were under the impression that they were attending the most dangerous games in decades. The worry that Chechen separatists might bomb the games was palpable. Yet, the threat for 2018 is much greater: nuclear war. The ramping up of threats and bravado by the U.S.’s President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un has had the world tentatively eyeing the situation for months now. It doesn’t help that Jong-un has tested a nuclear missile recently and that President Trump boasts of a “bigger” nuclear button.
But the situation isn’t all that dire. There have been promising signs of cooperation from both sides of the DMZ. Namely, North Korea wished their Southern neighbors good luck with the Olympics and that they would send a delegation. For their part, a South Korean governor has offered to pick up North Korean athletes who qualify in a cruise ship. But back in the States, Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted that if the North Koreans were going to PyeongChang, the US would boycott the games. Are some US politicians trying to spoil the party for the Koreans? In any case, a Senator does not have the power to decide for his country whether the games will be boycotted. Nevertheless, the damage has been done. Ticket sales have been sluggish, even though they have picked up recently.
Chinese athletes are attending, but spectators are having a hard time of it. Beijing banned group tours to South Korea over that country’s decision to deploy an anti-missile system against threats from North Korea.
One country not covered here is South Korea, yet some of the wisest words have come from the leaders here. As PyeongChang 2018 president Lee Hee-beom put it, “The basic principles of Olympics is Peace”. Although he rejected the offer by North Korea to co-host some of the games, he does encourage North Korean athletes to participate, “Anyone who loves peace should participate, have the right to participate: There is no exception. North Korea is not the exception.” The words are strong, especially when taken out of context.
It could be that Lee is sending a message about peace… not just for the 2018 Winter Olympics but in a grander, geopolitical sense as well. Indeed, his words could also be applied to the Russian athletes who tested clean and who have been invited to compete. In that vein, all who compete, attend, and watch the games on TV this February will feel the weight of the political baggage that surrounds the games. But it’s a beginning. If we can find a way to include everyone, even athletes from shamed countries because of doping and countries who are technically at war with the host country, then that might give us hope for what happens after the games are over with.
_____________________________________________________________________________
This piece solely expresses the opinion of the author and not necessarily the organization as a whole. Students For Liberty is committed to facilitating a broad dialogue for liberty, representing a variety of opinions. If you’re a student interested in presenting your perspective on this blog, visit our guest submissions page. Like what you read here? You can sign up for a weekly digest of the SFL blog and subscribe for a weekly update on SFL’s events, leadership programs, and resources.