IMS Focus_Military Sports Diplomacy: Opportunities and Challenges in the Mediterranean Region > Focus

Military Sports Diplomacy: Opportunities and Challenges in the Mediterranean Region

Dr. Nilly Kamal El Amir

(Egyptian Lecturer in International Relations)

Nkamalm6@gmail.com

According to Philip Noel-Baker, the athlete who won the Olympic gold medal and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, he says: "In the nuclear age, sport is the best hope for man." If nuclear power is one of the components of military power that countries seek to continuously support for the purposes of deterrence and hegemony, then the practices of military sports diplomacy are also associated with those purposes but in a different context. It supports countries in achieving new forms of sports dominance and control, but it certainly serves the goals of deterrence and hegemony in their traditional meanings, whether through displays of the country's military sports power or mobilizing popular support, among other benefits that countries seek through participation in military sports diplomacy activities.

Major powers such as the United States of America and some European countries are interested in military sports diplomacy and through it they prepare military equipment with the aim of preparing for play, not war; Sometimes this is done with the aim of strengthening relations between countries, such as when US warships organize sporting events before joint international exercises, or during port visits, and Mediterranean ports already host some of these events (Kawamura, 2020).

China has also been interested in military sports diplomacy, hosting the 2019 World Military Games, seeking to demonstrate Chinese national power through military power, both locally and internationally. It has sought to achieve advanced ranks, in other words, military sports diplomacy activities ultimately divide countries into strong countries (those who have won) and less powerful countries (those who have failed). Here, some believe that interest in military sports diplomacy may lead to supporting the building of positive international relations and mutual trust between countries. So what is the situation for the Mediterranean region? In the following lines, we will try to answer this question by focusing on the three parts: the nature of military sports diplomacy, its opportunities in the Mediterranean region, its challenges, and finally looking to the future.

(1) Sports Diplomacy and Military Sports Diplomacy: 

Sports are similar to diplomacy in terms of representation, and they are also similar to war in terms of competition and fighting to achieve victory and raise the national flag. Hence, the concept of military sports diplomacy emerged, which combines diplomacy and the work of the armed forces. Sports diplomacy in general and military sports diplomacy in particular have gained great attention from countries with the decline in the use of force and the rejection of the decision to go to war internationally since the beginning of the twenty-first century with the diversity of forms of force (non-military). 

Accordingly, sports competition was among the arenas proposed for displaying force and a means for countries to enjoy achieving victory. Countries viewed the stadium as a battlefield and considered the match a "battle" and considered the winner a war victor. In other words, the traditional arrangement of the match and sports competitions made sports diplomacy attractive, even psychologically, to leaders and peoples alike. In this context, military sports diplomacy is defined as “the conscious, strategic and systematic use of sports, athletes and (military) sports events. In order to create long-term, mutually beneficial cooperative partnerships that - at least ideally - can serve to maximize the bonds between peoples.” (Kawamura, 2020)

It is worth noting here that military sports diplomacy does not lead to reducing the importance of military power but to emphasizing deterrence as a supporter of international peace, and through sports countries can display their strength and also learn about each other’s capabilities. Military sports diplomacy leads to another pivotal change, which is the openness and globalization of interaction between regular military forces, a position that is not provided by the nature of the international system that abandoned and rejected the idea of world wars more than half a century ago.

Military sports diplomacy has evolved to have an international institutional framework that governs it. It is the World Military Sports Council. It was established with the aim of “promoting friendship between soldiers of the armed forces of all countries through sports activities.”

(2) Opportunities for Military Sports Diplomacy in the Mediterranean Region:

We move to the Mediterranean region and perhaps the first opportunities to enhance military sports diplomacy within it were represented in the rich diversity that characterizes the region. The Mediterranean Sea borders several countries across three continents, and along its length we can divide the countries of the region into similar geographical subgroups in contrast to other subgroups that suffer from conflicts. As Figure (1) shows, the opportunities for military sports diplomacy among the subgroups range between great opportunities for military sports cooperation and then decline until their potential reaches "zero" in the case of the Arab-Israeli conflict, for example. The truth is that this diversity has made the opportunities to support military sports diplomacy practices often mixed with challenges.

Among the opportunities for military sports diplomacy in the Mediterranean are also regional experiences in organizing regional sports events that bring together most of the Mediterranean countries, and the region was the first to organize regional sports competitions at the level of civilian and military sports. The Mediterranean Games were born at the invitation of Egypt and held their first edition in Alexandria in 1955, which has been held continuously since then, and concluded in Oran, Algeria in 2022. The credit also goes to the countries of the Mediterranean region, where the idea of military sports diplomacy was born and from there it emerged into international practice. The arrangement of military sports diplomacy began in France even before the launch of the Mediterranean Games, when five founding countries - Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands - established CISM during their meeting at a fencing event on February 18, 1948. Since its inception, it has attracted major Mediterranean countries such as Egypt, which joined in 1950. The number of member states reached 141 countries, including 47 African countries and 42 European countries (CISM, 2024). In 1952, Lebanon and Syria became members, in addition to other countries, of course. Mediterranean hosting has been pivotal to the advancement of military sports diplomacy globally. In 2005, CISM organized the "Sport and Peace" symposium held in Mantua, Italy, with the participation of 22 countries, to promote the goals of military sports diplomacy regionally and internationally. 

Additionally, Mediterranean countries contribute to the continuation and revival of military championships by welcoming the hosting of military championships. For example, Egypt won the bid to host the Fourth World Military Football Championship in 2021. (MOD, 2024) Organizationally, a Mediterranean country hosts the International Military Sports Council (CISM), which has become one of the largest sports institutions in the world. (CISM, 2024)

Military sports diplomacy activities provide opportunities to closely learn about the military capabilities of countries. By participating in their championships, countries usually seek to enhance trust and cohesion among soldiers, create qualified soldiers with military motivation, enhance the attractiveness of military service, in addition to identifying, training and motivating talents, which means that countries are informed about each other's capabilities and identify strengths and weaknesses. If some Mediterranean countries adopt this vision in interpreting military sports diplomacy participation, it can enhance their regional practice opportunities.

The fields of military sports championships vary and include, for example: sniper competitions, cooking competitions in the field kitchen, police dog races, medical relay races, maintenance competitions, diving competitions, and drone hunting. (Kawamura, 2020) This can contribute to enhancing the capabilities of countries in the region by preparing to participate in military championships, and can also enhance the spread of values of democracy, participation and support through the openness required by competitions.

In addition to the opportunities to enhance military sports diplomacy practices, the concept of competitions and rivalries within military institutions has begun to increase in recent years, such as the US Army's Best Band Competition (US Army, n.d.) or the Military Technical College Scientific Week in Egypt, ICMTC offers a state-of-the-art design experience in the field of engineering education. (UMSIC, 2024)

(3) Difficulties of military sports diplomacy in the Mediterranean region: 

Despite the multiple opportunities mentioned to enhance military sports diplomacy practices in the Mediterranean region, the specificity of that region made all these opportunities mixed with challenges, the most important of which is the Arab-Israeli conflict, which prevented opportunities for sports interactions between its countries away from military competitions, and Israel was merged with the European Union for the same reason, and created its own sports competitions to support its international sports presence (the Maccabiah). (Maccabiah, 2024)

Ultimately, military sports diplomacy expresses an advanced level of acceptance by states of military sports cooperation, and this cooperation is usually preceded by multiple levels of interaction, which is absent among a number of subgroups in the Mediterranean, in addition to the problems of the absence of parity and the absence of dialogue between these groups, which have all forms of sports interactions absent.

Also, military sports diplomacy is integrated with sports diplomacy activities. Therefore, we will find that the difficulties specific to sports diplomacy in the Mediterranean region apply to military sports diplomacy as well. For example, the charter of the Mediterranean Games Committee includes a clause excluding the participation of Palestine and Israel for political reasons, meaning that obtaining the right to membership and participation in the tournament requires the participation of the other, meaning that Palestine and Israel are linked to each other. Accordingly, the Palestinians give up participation so that the Israeli entity does not participate. (Tatweeg news, 2022) In addition, other Arab countries are sticking to their position of not participating in sports competitions with Israeli players, as happened when the Algerian judo player decided to withdraw from the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, after he was drawn with the Zionist entity player Tohar Butbol, according to Algerian press reports. (Shorouknews, 2024)

Added to these difficulties are the cultural barriers related to the stereotype or prevailing culture associated with the military role of armies, which is still confined to battlefields and military training that are subject to work away from media participation.

The future of military sports diplomacy in the Mediterranean region:

Strengthening military sports diplomacy regionally and internationally remains more difficult than sports diplomacy because it requires a level of organization and the ability to appear outside the traditional combat missions of military institutions, which is a strategic decision that some countries may hesitate to make. This does not prevent military sports diplomacy from gaining increasing importance (gradually) over the past half century, and countries began to compete to host sports tournaments as a platform that helps dialogue and thus achieve better understanding between armed forces, which can contribute to making global security more interconnected. (Velikaya, 2015) However, when applied to the Mediterranean, military sports diplomacy faces more challenges, reflecting the state of conflicts and disputes between some subgroups in the region.

Finally, we mentioned how military sports diplomacy tries to replace competition with peace and cooperation, and openness with isolation, and thus changes the traditional form of military preparation or the purpose of countries enhancing their military capabilities. Here, the nature of the balances between the countries of the Mediterranean region between cooperation and conflict was reflected in drawing the features of sports diplomacy in it, as well as in drawing the features of military sports diplomacy that emerged from less The Mediterranean Sea and presented to the world through it, but with its development, continuity, and expansion of its global presence and its birth from the womb of the region, it was unable to change the map of competition and conflict, especially since some countries have made independent sports arrangements through which they sought to impose their presence. (Johnson, 2024) This is because experiences indicate that sports as a solution to conflicts is something that may sometimes be accepted, but with the resolution of non-violent conflicts. (Woodhouse, n.d.)

Military sports diplomacy is the strategic use of sports to bring people, nations, and institutions together. It is also a shared passion among peoples, and sometimes has the ability to bring them closer together (Murray, 2024). If some groups of countries in the Mediterranean region, especially those with political and military relations, are interested in military sports diplomacy by organizing joint sports events, it is expected to bring about a positive change in terms of the impact of this diplomacy on strengthening trust and cooperative ties between peoples. This positive change at the human level will have an impact on the balance of power and conflicts, albeit at a slower pace as a result of the multiplicity of interaction platforms and the accumulation of experiences of mutual cooperation. “According to Galtung in his theory of conflict resolution: international sports events provide opportunities to enhance trust, affirm international commitments, and enhance common respect for sport.” This may apply to some sub-regional groups in the Mediterranean region, but it will not be applicable in the case of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

List of references: 

1. Jessica H. Kawamura, MILITARY SPORTS DIPLOMACY, NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL, California, June 2020, at: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/trecms/pdf/AD1114613.pdf 

2. Egyptian Ministry of Defense, at: https://www.mod.gov.eg/modwebsite/ServiceDetailsAr.aspx?id=15 

3. What is CISM ? International Military Sports Council, at: https://www.milsport.one/cism/what-is-cism 

4.   Anna Velikaya, Military-to-Military Sports Diplomacy, Oct 15, 2015, at:  https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/military-military-sports-diplomacy 

5. The 14th edition of the Mediterranean Games.. How did Palestine defeat Israel?!.. and the usual Italian lead and 37 Egyptian medals, at: https://tatweeg.news/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%AE%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%80-14-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A3%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%AD%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B7/#google_vignette    

6. Johnson, J.A. (2024). VBuild a Culture of Peace, not a Culture of Winning, through Taekwondo Diplomacy. Journal of Sport for Development. Retrieved from https://jsfd.org/ https://jsfd.org/2024/10/25/build-a-culture-of-peace-not-a-culture-of-winning-through-taekwondo-diplomacy/ 

7. Tom Wood house, Sport as a peacebuilding tool More than a Game. Sport and Conflict Resolution, at:  https://www.icip.cat/perlapau/en/article/more-than-a-game-sport-and-conflict-resolution/ 

8. Cárdenas, Alexander, and Sibylle Lang, 'Can sport contribute to the mission success of military peace support operations?', in Simon Rofe (ed.), Sport and diplomacy: Games within games, Key Studies in Diplomacy MUP Series (Manchester, 2018; online edn, Manchester Scholarship Online, 24 Jan. 2019), https://doi.org/10.7228/manchester/9781526131058.003.0003, accessed 4 Dec. 2024.

9. Stuart Murray, Sports Diplomacy with Dr. Stuart Murray, Co-Founder of the Sports Diplomacy Alliance,  March 29, 2024, at: https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2024/03/29/understanding-sports-diplomacy-with-dr-stuart-murray-co-founder-of-the-sports-diplomacy-alliance/ 

10. Sept. 29 - Oct. 14, 2024: The U.S. Army Best Squad Competition, at: https://www.army.mil/bestsquad/ 

11. ICMTC Competition, at: https://umsic.conferences.ekb.eg/cnf/about

12. Maccabiah Games official website, at: www.maccabiah.com 

13. Paris Olympics: Algerian champion withdraws from facing Zionist entity player in judo, 28/7/2024, at: https://www.shorouknews.com/news/view.aspx?cdate=28072024&id=54b41179-a16d-40dd-baef-34950a913af4#:~:text=%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%A8%20%D8%A8%D8%B7%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1%20%D9%85%D9%86%20%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%A8%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86%D9%8A%20%D9%81%D9%8A%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%88,-%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%B1%20%D9%81%D9%8A%3A%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%AF&text=%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%B1%20%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF%20%D8%AF%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B3%20%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%A8%20%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%A8,%D8%AD%D8%B3%D8%A8%D9%85%D8%A7%20%D8%B0%D9%83%D8%B1%D8%AA%20%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1%20%D8%B5%D8%AD%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%A9%20%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9.