by Heather L. Dichter (Editor), Andrew L. Johns (Editor)
International sporting events, including the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, have experienced profound growth in popularity and significance since the mid-twentieth century. Sports often facilitate diplomacy, revealing common interests across borders and uniting groups of people who are otherwise divided by history, ethnicity, or politics. In many countries, popular athletes have become diplomatic envoys. Sport is an arena in which international conflict and compromise find expression,
Author Biography
Heather L. Dichter is associate professor of sport management and sport history at De Montfort University and a member of DMU's International Centre for Sports History and Culture. She is the coeditor of Olympic Reform Ten Years Later.
Andrew L. Johns is associate professor of history at Brigham Young University and the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies. His books include Vietnam's Second Front: Domestic Politics, the Republican Party, and the War and The Eisenhower Administration, the Third World, and the Globalization of the Cold War.