ABSTRACT
Traditionally, social scientists have approached the study of international relations by
focusing on topics such as power, war, peace and diplomacy. Indeed, the dominant
perspectives in the study of world politics suggest that such areas should command our full
attention if the most accurate understanding of the nature of global interaction is being
sought. As a result – despite the overwhelming presence of sporting activities across the
globe – the subject has been largely neglected and seen as a relatively frivolous activity by
many international relations scholars. That is, the conventional wisdom surrounding
organized sport is that it encompasses little more than a leisure activity or a form of
entertainment. Although journalistic accounts concerning sports and popular culture have
proliferated, academic studies that are produced too often remain ghettoized in ‘sport
studies’ rather than being integrated into mainstream scholarship on international
relations. Indeed, many have suggested that it is simply an activity that fulfils some
symbolic need in populations and which thereby provides an opportunity for the public to
be manipulated and exploited by politicians.
