The Myopia of Boycotting Olympics in Russia

The controversy surrounding Russian Winter Olympics in 2014 has been steadily gaining momentum in light of anti-gay legislation and encroachments on civil liberties in Russia. Western newspaper columnists, policymakers, and gay rights activists alike have been calling for a boycott of the Olympic Games in Sochi, arguing that this move could open the Kremlin's eyes to the truth about equality for all. Yet, instead of softening Moscow's stance on same-sex relations and human rights, the boycott could further isolate Russia from the West and tarnish the reputation of the Olympics. Boycotting has never been an effective tool of promoting human rights, and there is little, if any, hope that it is going to work this time.

Over the aeons, Olympic Games have been closely entwined with politics. Circa 385-393 AD, the Christian Emperor Theodosius the Great banned the Olympics, underscoring the religious schism between the eastern and western parts of the Roman Empire. Centuries later, in 1896, Olympic Games were reinstalled, but politics continued to play an important, albeit divisive, role in the sports festival. In 1938, the Nazi Germany used the Olympics to proclaim its racial superiority, while Britain excluded the defeated nations of World War II from participation in the Games of 1948. With the beginning of the Cold War, the Olympics served as an arena for confrontation not only between the capitalist West and the communist East, but also between Israel and the Arab states exemplified by the deplorable terrorist attack against the Israeli team in Münich, 1972.

This confrontation also took the form of organized boycotts against both receiving and participating states. Starting in 1964, South Africa was barred from partaking in the Games due to the country’s apartheid policies of racial segregation. Only after three decades of isolation, South Africa was allowed to compete again at the Games in Barcelona in 1992. Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, sixty countries boycotted the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980. This move did not jolt the Soviet Union into withdrawing its forces from Kabul, however, but led to a similar boycott against the Olympics held in Los Angeles in 1984. External pressure has never been an effective instrument for immediate liberalization of abusive regimes, as history attests.

With regard to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, it could be argued that calls for boycotting the Games do not stem from anti-gay policies and human rights violations per se. The boycott of Russian Olympics was first proposed by Georgia, following the Russo-Georgian war of 2008. Five years later, it is not only gay rights that are being manipulated for punishing Russia. U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham was inequivocal in stating that Russia should be chastised for granting asylum to Edward Snowden, and the boycott of the Games could be an apposite punishment in his view. It is clear that gay rights violations are not the sole reason for boycotting the Sochi Games.

The Olympic Games are meant to unite people rather than divide them along religious, political, or any other lines. Unfortunately, Russian society is not ready to embrace gay rights yet, but should this be a good reason for boycotting the Games? It would be much wiser to allow gay sportsmen to compete at the Games so that Russians would see that these athletes are no different from their heterosexual challengers. For many in Russia, the hosting of Winter Olympics in Sochi is a symbol of national glory, unity, and success. It is a great opportunity to bring Russia and the world together.