Peace Through Sport

In this article, I advocate for the relevance and utility of ancient materials and sources in theorizing and implementing contemporary peacebuilding methods. In particular, I focus on the enduring use of sports and athletics as tools for transitioning combatants from wartime to peacetime, for mitigating the negative social consequences of warfare, and for developing a resilient, interconnected transnational community. I draw examples from well-documented source materials of ancient Greek athletics in order to make connections between ancient and modern practice and to draw useful lessons for today’s practitioners. By offering transcultural comparisons of approaches to conflict resolution through athletic competition, this article contributes also to debates about the ethics of using sport as an interventionist tool in post-conflict societies and demonstrates the benefits of taking a long historical view of global issues.