New Books In World Affairs

A new chapter in the history of the Olympic Games appears to be opening. As one city after another has dropped out of the bidding for the 2022 Winter Games, the International Olympic Committee has been faced with the prospect that no one might be willing to host its wonderful, expensive party. Meanwhile, American cities have been submitting bids to the USOC for the opportunity to be the nation’s one candidate for the 2024 Summer Olympics. In an unusual twist, USOC members received letters from a group called No Boston Olympics that asked the committee to NOT name their city as the candidate for the 2024 Games. The opposition group’s website features counter-evidence to the Boston organizing committee’s claims about the Games’ benefits, including papers by academic economists that show the lack of financial gains in host cities. Anti-Olympic dissent is rising, as ordinary citizens and activist groups have pointed out the misuse of public funds for the Games, the heavy-handed actions of the IOC in host cities,