sports diplomacy
With an eye on giving impetus to neighborhood first policy amid thaw in ties with Pakistan, India will host South Asian Games (SAG) in Guwahati and Shillong from Feb 6-16 2016. Delhi hopes that the Games will enhance people-to-people and youth links among eight South Asian countries in the spirit of Modi government's importance to neighboring states.
Players as pawns in political games is not always a bad thing. Major League Baseball is about to visit Cuba on a "Goodwill" tour that marks the Dec 17 meeting last year between Barack Obama and Raul Castro when the two presidents agreed to start to "normalise" the relationship between the countries.
A State Department official said in an email that the American Embassy in Havana was aware of the efforts by private institutions like the Caribbean Baseball Initiative to increase ties between the two countries, and described baseball as “an excellent avenue for sports diplomacy and creating good will between our peoples.”
Pakistan-India cricket matches have also offered opportunities for cricket diplomacy as a means to improve relations between the two countries by allowing political leaders to exchange visits and cricket followers from either country to travel to the other to watch the matches.
This new video from Deutsche Welle News explores how one community leader has harnessed the combined power of sports and education diplomacy to teach youth vital lessons about health, self-worth and cooperation.
The program fits neatly with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's new focus on sports diplomacy. The 2015-18 strategy launched in June this year aims to use sports skills, facilities and knowledge to promote Australia and strengthen links with countries and communities in the region.
Why targeting a sporting event often feels like a direct attack at the heart of a nation […] Sport has always been seen as a manifestation of national identity. It is sometimes an outlet for our most primitive, tribal instincts, or, as the former Holland coach, Rinus Michels, put it: "Football is war."
The initiative, organized and funded by the Premier League in partnership with World Vision International and the Asian Football Development Project, will train 24 men and 12 women, including a number of Syrian refugee volunteers, who hail from World Vision Jordan, the Jordan FA, and a variety of aid organizations active within the camp.