This case study addresses to the task of visualizing and describing the shifts in global politics by comparing two time periods: the Cold War and the era after the end of the Cold War.
The entirely new approach uses the awarding of mega sporting events hosting rights as an allegory for the political importance of a country. The more organizations a country is selected for, the more powerful is the relative voice on global level of politics. The most substantial argument in favour of this simplifying method is constituted in the easy and prompt access to the data due to visualizing maps. Moreover, classifying results of several countries, made by Peter Vujakovic in 2005, will be compared to the interpretation of the results of this case study.
With the help of this comprehensible approach one can see the topic from a different angle, and it helps to forecast the prospective development of global proportion of power. As a base, the literature research deals with an analysis of the world order during the Cold War and the shifts after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The illustration of the meaning and the background of mega sporting events completes the theoretical part.
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION
2 METHODOLOGY
3 THE THEMATIC FRAMEWORK
3.1 POST-COLD WAR WORLD ORDER
3.2 THE BACKGROUND AND MEANING OF MEGA SPORTING EVENTS
3.3 THE ASSOCIATIONS OF THE FOOTBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES: THE FIFA AND THE IOC
4 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE – A SUMMARY OF PETER VUJAKOVIC’S TEXT
5 CONNECTION BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE: THE ANALYSIS OF THE SELECTION OF HOST COUNTRIES
5.1 DURING COLD WAR: 1960 – 1990
5.2 POST-COLD WAR: 1992 – 2022
5.3 KEY FINDINGS
6 CONCLUSION
Objectives and Research Themes
This case study aims to visualize shifts in global political power structures by analyzing the awarding of hosting rights for mega sporting events (Football World Cup, Summer and Winter Olympics) across the Cold War and post-Cold War eras, using them as an allegory for a nation's relative political importance.
- Comparison of host country selections between the Cold War (1960–1990) and post-Cold War (1992–2022) periods.
- Evaluation of the "post-Cold War world order" and the emergence of new geopolitical power centers.
- Analysis of the correlation between hosting mega sporting events and a country's global political influence.
- Validation of Peter Vujakovic’s theoretical perspectives on the changing global world order.
- Assessment of the growing influence of the BRICS nations in the global political arena.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2 THE BACKGROUND AND MEANING OF MEGA SPORTING EVENTS
Today, football is the most popular sport in the world (fig. 1) and even in countries with other favorites, the interest is growing. Therefore the annual pre-season trip of the most important European clubs to future merchandising markets like China or Arabia and the local enthusiasm are a good indicator. According to FIFA, about 3.2 billion people (roughly 46% of the global population) watched at least one minute of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa which reached 214 territories (KANTARSPORT 2010, p. 7). This is slightly lower than the number of people (3.6 billion in over 220 territories) who watched at least one minute of the 2012 London Olympics (IOC 2012, p. 4). Almost one billion people saw at least one minute of the World Cup final (KANTARSPORT, p. 7) and the London Olympics’ opening ceremonies (IOC 2012, p. 4). These facts underline the current meaning of mega sporting events.
In a historical view, as in a time without today’s extensive broadcasting possibilities, sporting events were playing an important role, as well. Locally, it has ever been a place with great social potential (CLOSE & ASKEW & XIN 2007, p. 1). The old Romans and Greeks were used to visit spectacular sporting events, where they cheered the athletes and amused themselves – it was simply part of their culture (cf. CLOSE & ASKEW & XIN 2007, p. 44-45).
From an economical point, the framework of arranging mega sporting events has completely changed. There has been a dramatic increase in the cost of organizing the Olympics: For the 1960 Rome Summer Games, US$ 50 million was spent on “public works”, while later events were a lot more expansive: 1972 Munich (US$ 850 million), 1976 Montreal (US$ 1.5 billion) and 1980 Moscow (much more than US$ 2 billion); and these additional costs couldn’t be compensated in every case (CLOSE & ASKEW & XIN 2007, p. 10). The cost effectiveness doesn’t have the first priority as the others aspects predominate: Causing a stir, proving its reliability and pride of the population. The scramble for mega sporting events seems to be a crystallization of the growing competition between cities, countries and continents (SHORT 2003, p. 1).
Summary of Chapters
1 INTRODUCTION: Outlines the shift from a bi-polar Cold War world to a new, complex order and introduces the methodology of using sporting events as an indicator of geopolitical power.
2 METHODOLOGY: Details the approach of tracking host countries for the Football World Cup and Olympics over 62 years to visualize shifts in global power and influence.
3 THE THEMATIC FRAMEWORK: Provides the theoretical context regarding the post-Cold War order, the historical meaning of mega sporting events, and an introduction to FIFA and the IOC.
4 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE – A SUMMARY OF PETER VUJAKOVIC’S TEXT: Summarizes Vujakovic’s analysis of the U.S. as a challenged winner of the Cold War and explores concepts of nation-states versus super-states.
5 CONNECTION BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE: THE ANALYSIS OF THE SELECTION OF HOST COUNTRIES: Connects the theory to the empirical data through comparative maps of the Cold War and post-Cold War periods, followed by a discussion of key findings.
6 CONCLUSION: Synthesizes the results, confirming the rise of new global players and validating the applicability of the author's visual methodology for political geography.
Keywords
Global Politics, Post-Cold War Order, Mega Sporting Events, FIFA, IOC, Geopolitics, BRICS, Hosting Rights, World Order, Power Shift, Political Geography, Nation-States, Globalization, Sporting Events Analysis, International Relations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this work?
The work explores how the selection of host countries for mega sporting events serves as an indicator of shifting global political power between the Cold War and post-Cold War eras.
Which sporting events are analyzed in this study?
The study focuses on the men's Football World Cup, the Summer Olympics, and the Winter Olympics.
What is the central research question?
The paper asks how the global proportion of power has changed, which countries have lost influence, and which have gained it, specifically investigating the nature of the current post-Cold War world order.
Which methodology does the author employ?
The author uses a comparative visualization approach, generating world maps that display the frequency of host country selections during the Cold War (1960–1990) and the post-Cold War era (1992–2022).
What does the author conclude about the BRICS countries?
The author concludes that global power has shifted in favor of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), whose influence has increased significantly compared to the Cold War period.
How is Peter Vujakovic’s theory integrated?
Vujakovic’s theoretical perspective on the U.S. as the leading post-Cold War superpower and the concept of "super-states" is summarized and then empirically tested against the data of host country distributions.
How did the author handle the influence of the FIFA corruption scandal?
The author acknowledges the corruption reports but argues that they do not decisively influence the explanatory power of using hosting rights as a geopolitical indicator for this study.
Why were the Winter Olympics maps treated with caution?
The author notes that Winter Games require specific geographical and climatic conditions, which restricts the number of eligible candidates more than Summer events or the Football World Cup.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Daniel Häußler (Autor:in), 2015, Contested Worlds and a New Order After the End of the Cold War, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/454917
