Opinions #33/24

Conceived three thousand years ago in the cradle of Western civilization, the Olympic Truce has not always achieved its goal. And this existed already in antiquity. In recent times – it was 1992 – the (seeming) atmosphere of calm after the end of the Cold War prompted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to venture into a field of optimism, planning to proclaim an “Olympic Truce” on this occasion for all the Olympic Games. We’ve seen with what result. The ongoing wars haven’t slowed down even when coinciding with the Games. Which, even in the relatively recent past, remained in a state far removed from the universal spirit – today we would say “global” – that inspired the Hellenic founders. The 1980 Moscow Olympics were boycotted by the United States, motivated by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (a couple of decades before US Marines did the same). Four years later, the USSR responded by not participating in the Los Angeles games. Since then, much blood has been spilled on the battlefields, and the Olympic Games continues to be the victim of just as much mutilation. However, the social reason for absence has changed: it is no longer a boycott decided in the past by the person absent from duty, but sanctions imposed by the governments of the countries present. Such is the case with the 2024 Games, which just concluded in Paris. Where athletes from Russia and Belarus were not allowed because of the war in Ukraine. And so, there was a certain effect in witnessing the (legitimate) joy, carelessly offered to cameras and audiences around the world, of that handful of Israeli athletes, dressed in tracksuits of the national flag colors, rejoicing on the podium. One gold medal, five silver, and one bronze medal went to the Jewish state, while Prime Minister Netanyahu’s army, risking an international arrest warrant for war crimes, brought its war against the Palestinians to a climax, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran… With a sudden rush of concern that made some in Washington and Brussels cough. Just a hint of resentment, because the American political game is in full swing, and in the European annex we are fervently waiting for understanding. Because Biden’s old “Irish Zionism” still permeates the entire White House structure. Because the Democratic candidate who will succeed him, Kamala Harris, must be careful not to curry favor with the leftist pro-Arab electorate at the risk of losing Jewish economic and voting centers. Because Trump, even in his prototypes about Middle East structures, is incomprehensible. And all within a dramatic and unprecedented election campaign, narrated by Andrew Spannaus, where no turn of events can be ruled out. And it’s paralyzingly catalyzing the world’s attention. Just when it would be reasonable to expect the political-scientific-ethical leaders of major countries to have excessive control over the modern Aladdin’s Lamp, one step away from unleashing the evilest genius of all: artificial intelligence, which they would like to bring to the point of total system destruction in the field of armaments. With the relative loss of human control over wars. A perspective that Alessandro Politi, in his analysis, considers to have reached the point of no return.