DEMOS

The Olympics are going home. At the same time, the ancient roots of the Greek Games could offer solutions to today’s global complex security threats.

Stand-offs between nation states have been superseded by terrorism, civil war, insurgency and a culture of conflict within communities. The changing nature of conflict means that our leaders will not find solutions alone.

Just as the monopoly on waging war has been removed from the hands of states, so the tools for making peace also need to be democratised.

The ancient Olympic games were created as a way to stop Greek city states fighting each other. For the duration of the games, soldiers became athletes and were guaranteed safe passage to the Olympiad. Thus the Olympic games were born out of a temporary peace.

In 1992, the IOC revived the ancient Olympic Truce, which calls for a cease in conflict, fighting and hostilities for the duration of the Games. The Truce became the first unanimously endorsed resolution in the UN’s history in 2003.

Since then the Truce has helped to deliver real results during summer and winter Games:

• A cease-fire which allowed 10,000 children to be inoculated in Bosnia in 1994
• North and South Korea marching under the same flag as a sign of unity in 2000
• A pause in bombing of Iraq in 1998
• A pledge by African leaders to halt hostilities in 2000

16 Days argues that the Olympic Truce has the potential to be a peace-inspiring tool for our times. Projecting its peaceful purpose could help provide security for the Olympic Games themselves, while the Truce offers the world’s peace-makers a brief opportunity to resolve conflict. The strengths of the Truce include:

• A window of opportunity: Its association with the Olympic Games allows the message of the Olympic Truce to reach almost 4 billion people every 2 years at the summer and winter Games;
• Sporting values: Sport promotes values that are essential to peace building, such as respect for opponents and mediation, control, discipline and healthy competition;
• A network for action and change: The Olympic Truce is able to work for real change through a dense network of grassroots sporting organisations across the world.
• The power of inspiration: Perhaps most importantly, the simple message of the Olympic Truce – peace, if only for just 16 days – has the power to inspire a new generation to fight for peace rather than war. Initiatives such as Live Aid and the Jubilee 2000 campaign are examples of what can be achieved when ordinary people dare to imagine the unimaginable.

16 Days is the result of a partnership between Demos, Demos Athens and the International Olympic Truce Centre.