体育何以促进和平：冷战时期美苏田径对抗赛谈判的心态史考察

doi:10.15942/j.jcsu.2025.02.13

Abstract

Abstract: During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in negotiations surrounding the USA–USSR Track and Field Dual Meet Series, establishing a sports-based diplomatic consultation channel and mechanism. This initiative not only facilitated the first handshake and cooperation between the two nations amid the Cold War but also contributed to the repeal of the McCarran-Walter Act in the United States and led to the signing of the first U.S.-Soviet cultural exchange agreement of the Cold War era. These developments, in turn, spurred broader cooperation across multiple domains, fostering a constructive competitive-cooperative relationship between the two great powers and promoting the “Long Peace” during the Cold War through sports. Employing the history of mentality approach, this study conducts a genealogical examination of the six-year-long negotiation process behind the USA–USSR Track and Field Dual Meet Series, empirically reconstructing the historical trajectory of the United States’ initial invitation, the Soviet Union’s consecutive counter-invitations, and the eventual agreement on the competition contract. The repeated cycles of invitations and rejections reflect the caution and complexity inherent in great-power sports diplomacy during this period. Unlike economic sanctions and arms races, U.S.-Soviet sports exchanges during the Cold War exhibited distinct characteristics, including peaceful methods, public processes, and cooperative outcomes, encapsulating the intrinsic value of sports in promoting peace. Examining the interplay between sports and politics during the Cold War enhances our understanding of the motives, methods, and mechanisms through which sports engage in great-power rivalry. This, in turn, provides historical insights for leveraging sports diplomacy in fostering new forms of great-power relations in the contemporary era.

Key words: great-power rivalry, sports diplomacy, USA–USSR Track and Field Dual Meet Series, Sports for Peace, Cold War, history of mentality

CLC Number:

G811.9

GU Shuai, YU Siyuan, LIU Guihai. How sports can promote peace: A historical survey of the mentality in the negotiation of the USA–USSR Track and Field Dual Meet Series[J]. Journal of Chengdu Sport University, 2025, 51(2): 125-133.

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How sports can promote peace: A historical survey of the mentality in the negotiation of the USA–USSR Track and Field Dual Meet Series

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