How To Transform The Olympic Spirit Into a Global Template

Olympism can usher in a new international order

The modern Olympic Games were inaugurated on June 23, 1894, at the Sorbonne in Paris. The Olympic spirit is a metaphor for international cooperation, friendship and solidarity.

According to Olympics.com :

“The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.”

The Olympics is one of the few international events where politics takes the backstage. The competition is fierce but seldom bitter or divisive.

The Olympic stage is the playground where contradictions sit together without creating any tension or acrimony. Athletes compete under their national flags, but political enmities do not spill over into the arena when rivals compete. Individual sporting excellence serves national honour without the shrill rhetoric of nationalistic drumbeats.

In the Olympic Games, nationalism has to bow before internationalism.

The international order lacks the Olympic spirit.

I wondered why the Olympic spirit should only surface once in four years and that too restricted to the sporting arena? Why have we failed to replicate the Olympic spirit’s themes of friendship, cooperation and solidarity on the world stage?

Even the pandemic has not galvanized international cooperation. We are yet to find out how and from where the coronavirus originated. There is vaccine apartheid because a few countries have the capability to manufacture vaccines, and they have prioritized their own citizens over others.

Hotspots of tension exist in many parts of the world where nations are locked in violent conflict. A civil war has been raging in Syria. World leaders have not understood how to tackle issues like terrorism, global poverty, equitable international trade, climate change, etc.

How to transfer the Olympic spirit to the international political stage.

Democratize international bodies like the United Nations. The International Olympic Committee applies its rules on member nations without any discrimination. The UN, on the other hand, is an unequal body. Theoretically, all nations are equal, but the Security Council is a closed club of veto-wielding members- the US, United Kingdom, France, China and Russia, known as the Big Five.

The Big Five are permanent members of the Security Council. They can veto any resolution that they dislike depending on their geopolitical interests. For instance, if any member moves a resolution calling on China to pay the world compensation for its delayed communication about the pandemic, it will face a Chinese veto.

The Security Council is a legacy of power rivalries of the past. The Big Five’s veto power has become an anachronism. All UN bodies and international regulatory organizations like the International Atomic Agency, Nuclear Suppliers Group should embrace the principle of ‘one nation, one vote.’

Arm international organizations with punitive power

The IOC has the power to disqualify nations if they flout the Olympic charter’s rules and regulations.

International bodies like the World Health Organization, the International Court of Justice should have the authority to impose penalties on nations that flout the rules of responsible behaviour. The WHO has not found out anything about the Coronavirus’s origin because China has stonewalled investigations into the functioning of the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The WHO has become a toothless regulator.

Climate Change talks need the Olympian template of cooperation

Climate change is humanity’s most serious challenge. Unfortunately, national leaders have been wrangling about who should cut what amount of carbon emissions by what date.

The two sides, the developed nations and the developing nations, have agreed to disagree on the action plans required to reverse global warming. For example, the US has demanded that all nations should have equal responsibilities to cut carbon emissions. Developing countries like India argue that they have been victims of historical events like colonialism and have to lift millions of people above poverty. They missed the Industrial Revolution and, therefore, cannot be treated as historical polluters.

Mutual understanding, reciprocity, and accommodation of each other’s concerns are how nations can narrow their differences and strike a workable deal to save the planet from climate change’s devastating impact.

Other areas where we can apply the Olympian templates of cooperation and mutual respect

• International athletes respect each other and take care not to infringe on the rights of others. Nations should resolve bilateral disputes peacefully. They should avoid unilateral actions that will disturb the status quo. All nations should respect international rules and conventions.
• In the Olympics, winners and losers share a sense of solidarity. They don’t exhibit the winner’s pride or the loser’s envy. Stronger and prosperous nations should share their resources with weaker and poorer nations. The latter should emulate the best policies of their developed counterparts instead of always playing the victim card.
• Fair rules should govern international trade.
• Fairness and equity should underpin the letter and spirit of international agreements and treaties. The Olympic spirit values merit over privilege.

Final thoughts

There is no reason why the international order cannot imbibe the Olympic spirit of cooperation, mutual trust, solidarity and respect for fair play. The big powers should shed their domineering mindset and abide by the rules of international conduct. Nations should resolve conflicts in a spirit of mutual understanding and respect.

Climate talks are the laboratory where the Olympic spirit can be tried and tested.

Will the leaders of nations rise to the occasion?

Thanks for reading.

You might also like this story