Virtually since their resumption in 1896, every four years the press is filled with complaints about the intrusion of power politics into the Olympic games. David B. Kanin has commented that while we are told that international Olympic system idealizes and promotes fair play and sportsmanship and ameliorates struggle, hatred, and petty jealously through structured competition and international goodwill, the realist is that "international sport thrives on the very politics Olympic publicists decry (Kanin 1)." Nevertheless, the games are more or less 'political', than anything else. Ninety-five percent of the problems faced by IOC's president Killian involved national and international politics (Senn x). Further, it can be argued that what could be called 'cultural imperialism' has influenced and even shaped the games. Cultural imperialism at times facilitates inclusion of sporting events reflecting a host nations area of expertise or de-emphasizing sports that are popular with nations not in political favor. The following report will explore this issue up until the World War II games.

The Olympic Games and the Olympic system have become, in some critical ways, actors on the g

American involvement in the Games, has had many long lasting effects on the Olympic system. It has been stated that Western sports and ideals have dominated many facets of the Olympics. Ruud Stockvis, a Dutch sociologist, states the popularity of any given sport in any given country depends upon the development of the positions of economic and political power among the nations of the world system (Guttmann 173). The United States is one of the largest Hegemons in the world, therefore, cultural imperialism is dominant in many of their sports and other Western nations. For example, baseball, basketball, American football, lacrosse, are some of the most popular sports all over the world. However, many nations have taken American sports and adopted them to suit their culture (Guttmann 174). For instance, Canadians have taken to a version of gridiron football and even imported American players (Guttmann 175). On the contrary, the United States has taken sports from other countries. Years after baseball became Cuba's national game, jai-lai became popular among Americans (Guttmann 175). Lastly, there have been examples of extreme cultural imperialism in the past. British missionaries had forced peoples of Asia, Africa, and India to play cricket and soccer football against their will. It was an effort to Christianize these native peoples and force western values and culture upon them (Guttmann 177).

Germany didn't want to permit Jews and blacks to compete in their Games. Kanin states, "Nazi preparations demonstrated the effectiveness of an athletic appeal to a ruling ethnic group designed to tie together concepts of nation, state, and race (Kanin 53)." It has even been rumored that Germany hired a filmmaker to produce a film called Olympia. This film depicted the Germans and other Aryans as superior human beings. However, after much debate, Germany allowed Jews and blacks to participate in the Berlin Games. Nevertheless, only two Jews, one a woman who lived in the United States, competed on the German team (Senn 54). All these examples prove that a host country has much power in dictating the rules of the Games.

These few examples prove that the Olympic Games have been used by nation-states to introduce competitive opportunities in which their own athletes excel. In addition, the inclusion of women in the Olympic games spurted controversy among the IOC. It seems that the expa

Some common words found in the essay are:
Africa India, David Kanin, Stockvis Dutch, Olympic Games, Games American, Games Olympic, France Coubertin, Britain France, Games Olympics, Kanin Nazi, olympic games, cultural imperialism, senn 50, jews blacks, berlin games, olympic system, world war ii, games foster, games olympic, examples prove, games nevertheless,
Approximate Word count = 1625
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)