U.S. Sports Diplomacy As Counterinsurgency: an Anti-Imperialist Perspective

The mainstream discourse of sport diplomacy perpetuates a form of epistemic liberal Eurocentrism that sidesteps questions of capitalism, (neo)colonialism, and imperialism. Against this colonial amnesia, this paper draws upon theories of counterinsurgency to examine the contemporary sport diplomacy programs directed by the U.S. government and carried out by various state/nonstate actors. A critical reading of diplomatic cables and public sources reveals that, on the one hand, sport diplomacy was discussed internally by U.S. diplomats as a crucial means to reestablish U.S. legitimacy overseas; on the other hand, it was presented to the public as a depoliticized, good-for-all activity. This analysis situates U.S. sports diplomacy within an ensemble of counterinsurgency tactics to advance foreign policy objectives of the U.S. settler empire.