Sport, geo-politics and the peace process

This chapter discusses the opportunity for sport to advance its case as an influencer of geopolitics and an enabler of peace processes. It is organized around five sub-themes: (i) sport, peace, and fragile contexts; (ii) sport, geo-politics, and fragile states; (iii) sport and human rights; (iv) sport, cultural relations, and peace; (v) sport and the common good before finishing with a set of concluding remarks. Importantly, the chapter argues that academics need to be more nuanced about the growing challenges to expertise, the difficulties of critical friendship, and the unpredictability of states, territories, and/or communities undergoing fast-paced multiple political transitions because of any number of fragile contexts and geo-political tensions and alliances.