The USA and Sporting Diplomacy

Comparing and Contrasting the Cases of Table Tennis with China and Baseball with Cuba in the 1970s

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4444205
AutoresThomas F Carter (0000-0002-5752-4396, University of Brighton), John Sugden (0000-0002-0882-4042, University of Brighton)
Ano2012
Volume26
Fascículo1
Páginas101-121
Data de publicação2012-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Relations (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0047-1178 • E-ISSN: 1741-2862
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0047117811411741
OpenAlexW2011277633
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6

When Beijing hosted the Olympic Games in 2008 we were reminded that almost four decades earlier the People's Republic of China's road back to international recognition and acceptance had begun with a chance sporting encounter between two members of the US and Chinese table tennis teams in Japan in 1971. It is less well known that not long after this successful 'ping pong' diplomatic episode, attempts were made by various parties to use baseball in a similar way to try and repair international ties between Cuba and the United States. In this article the circumstances through which the former succeeded whereas the latter failed miserably are subject to detailed examination. Drawing upon existing literature and unclassified material gleaned from the National Security Archive (NSA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Archive we argue that for a number of historically specific reasons, and because of the different balances of interest and asymmetric power relations, 'ping pong' diplomacy was able to help broker rapprochement between the United States and China, whereas 'baseball diplomacy' could do little or nothing to stimulate diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana

Agency (philosophy) · Beijing · China · Diplomacy · Great power · International relations · Library science · Media studies · Nothing · Ping pong · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Social science · Sociology · Subject (documents) · American Sports and Literature · Engineering · Law