The U.S. State Department joined ESPN’s women’s unit in creating a mentoring program that links emerging international female sports leaders and American women in the same fields.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in partnership with USA Track and Field and the Oregon Track Club, announced that 12 girls and four female coaches from The Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago will participate in a track and field exchange program in Washington, D.C. and Eugene, Oregon, June 18-28, 2012.

The head of the International Olympic Committee has warned that any athlete not prepared to compete against a rival nation for political or religious reasons in London will be heavily punished.

The use of sports for achieving political purposes and strengthening diplomacy between nations seems to be waning since the fall of the Berlin wall. However, the Euro 2012 will be a good indicator on how viable the coercive aspect of sports diplomacy is in the 21st century.

APDS Blogger: Alex Laverty

Other friends are planning their summer trips to London to attend the 2012 Olympics. The sports pages of the New York Times and Los Angeles Times are filled with stories about the training regimens and back stories of potential medal winners.

The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, on Sunday criticized the German Football Association after only three members of the national team visited the Auschwitz death camp on Friday in the run up to the Euro 2012 soccer championship...

Politics and sports are often an incendiary mix, as the controversy now swirling around the Euro 2012 football championship, to be co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland, demonstrates... European Union leaders have said that they will boycott matches held in Ukraine...