Question 1: What is the relevance of the Olympic Truce in the modern era, particularly as terrorism has become more of a concern?
Question 2: What will the world learn about China as a result of the Olympic Games?
Question 3: What will be some of the lasting effects on Chinese society from hosting the Olympic Games?
The Truce Foundation of the USA promotes an increased awareness of Olympic values, particularly those inspired by the Olympic Truce. The Foundation draws on the example of the International Olympic Truce Foundation which is administered by the International Olympic Committee.
The Olympic truce, as affirmed every two years by the United Nations General Assembly, encourages all countries to enable safe passage and participation for all at the Olympic Games. In ancient times the Truce was one of the longest, most enduring accords in recorded history. its revival in 1994 has enabled dialogue and action to overcome political and related constraints to participation in the Olympic Ideal.
The Truce Foundation of the USA is a non-profit organization incorporated in the State of California.
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7 comments:
1. The relevance of the Olympic Truce is unimportant as (for now) the nature of warfare has changed. For the moment, wars of might have been replaced by wars of attrition. It is important that sovereign countries need not worry about safety, but as we all know, the Olympics are all about politics. For example, the 1980 olympics where the US defeated the Soviet Union in hockey, it was not seen as a competition but as war. It was us vs. them.
2. What we will learn from China as a result of the Olympic Games is unimportant as much of China's human rights violations are in the open.
3. Nothing. After a country hosts an Olympic Games, the focus shifts to who next is hosting. Who cares about Athens after they held the Olympics? Right after the last of China's Olympic Tourist leaves, people will forget about China and begin concentrating on London four years later.
1> The Olympic Truce is intended to transcend the political and social divides between countries in the interest of having a successful series of games. Regrettably, modern forms of warfare are not always carried out by actual nations but rather by non-state actors. The Olympic Truce refers only to soverign nations and so the terrorists cells within a nation are not obliged to follow the example of their government.
2> It is possible that the Olympics will reveal allow people to see China firsthand and perhaps get rid of myths or stereotypes of the Chinese. However, the government is not very transparent, and so signficant issues such as human rights violations may be behind the scenes and unaffected by the Olympics.
3> Any nation which hosts Olympics stands to make enormous financial gains. For Example, Athens developed almost overnight with a new airport and infrastructure to accomodate the traffic. China is already highly developed, but will nonetheless receive an increase in investment.
1. The Olympic Truce is now even more relevant. Because the world is now filled with wars of attrition, it is more important to establish diplomatic ties with other countries. The Olympics must include politics but sports can still be in the spotlight. Through a common ground such as sports, countries can connect and perhaps manage to make peace.
2. Unfortunately, I do not think that we will learn much about China's human rights violations. China is scurrying to cover up any abuses and violations to avoid international scrutiny. China will probably cover up well and if not, could forcefully hush protestors.
3. China will not retain any lasting effects from hosting the Olympics. Perhaps human rights violations will decrease for a short period of time but China will soon slide back to its old habits. People will concentrate on the next Olympics, not China.
The Olympic Truce is quite relevent. It is at least an attempt to bring the world together once again through the Olympics. It serves to promote the good nature and what the Olympics are meant to be by attempting to create some temporary peace. However, warfare has changed. It is no longer simply a fight between states, but a fight between states and non-state actors. Terrorism is now the focus of the world, and terrorism is the type of warfare that non-state actors use. Although the Olympic Truce may help mitigate conflicts between states, non-state actors will not be controlled. However, it is wrong to deny that the Olympic Truce does serve a purpose in reminding the world that the Olympics are about good, competitive sports and not about political disputes.
Any country that hosts the Olympics has something to show the world through its culture. However, it is undeniable that the hosts will try to appear the best they can in the eyes of the rest of the world. This is for political and economic reasons. Therefore, China's human rights violations will be hidden by the media as if they do not exsist. The picture the world will recieve from China will be manifested to make China look good.
Hosting the Olympics has different effects on different countries. It is hard to say what the effects will be. Perhaps the effects will be more visible in a smaller nation. A country like China may barely have effects. This is in part due to the fact of how China will brush itself up to look good for the media. However, the world attention will undoubtably be on China. This means that people will still learn certain things about China. If NGOs take this opportunity to depict China's buried truths about human rights violations or its society, perhaps international attention can be given to these facts. The Olympic's publicity can be used strategically, and with NGO help, can provide awarness on issues in China that can have lasting effects in time.
1) Created in ancient times, the Olympic Truce suspends war so that all can come together to observe the Games. The Olympic Truce is a custom which allows all nations to put aside their differences to participate in this global sporting event. Though politics is not the main focus of the Olympic Games, this peaceful time does facilitate dialogue amongst nations, the first step to better international relations.
2) By hosting the Olympic Games, China is provided an invaluable opportunity to promote the image it wishes the world to see, cementing its place in world relations.
3) China has to gain economically through the national improvements it has enacted, whose value will extend beyond the Olympics.
1. The Olympic Truce plays a big part in our modern day society. It is a time where representatives of different countries come together and compete fairly with each other. Citizens of this world need be aware of how we are all the same. At the end of the day, we are just human beings. The world needs peace. And this notion should be emphasized through the Olympic Truce this year--which will hopefully ameliorate the situation of terrorism in this world.
To be continue...
2. I hope the Olympic Games will teach the world of how much the chinese people love their country. The media may criticize the chinese government for being communist, but the fact is most of the Chinese people have no problem with it. They are also just people who are making the most of their life each day. The real problems or corruption within the government, however, is in no way going to be shown to the world.
3.The Olympic this year is definitly going to unite the chinese people. Hopefully the event will also teach the people there some manners that the western media has been critisizing, such as spitting.
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