Meyer Keynotes Paris Olympics UNESCO Forum

The day before the Opening of the 2024 Summer Olympics Games, held in Paris, France as a special return to one of the Games' founding sites, UNESCO co-sponsored a special forum on the connection between sports, peace, and youth. Held at the Town Hall of the 7th Arrondissement in central Paris, the Forum was co-sponsored by the International Olympic Academy. It included many academics, athletes, and peace-makers from around the world. Honored to present the Keynote on Global Context, I represented the International Peace Research Association, with my remarks published later by the International Science Council (ISC). This short excerpt is followed by a link to the ISC-published essay.

Today, competition and conflict often connotate negativity, but it has never been the act itself, rather the way we utilize the act. A duel to the death is very different from an arm wrestle, though both are competitions. Deciding upon which of two favorite family restaurants to go to and fighting a seemingly intractable holy war are conflicts of a completely different nature. Learning how to engage in conflict, and not just how to resolve it, must be at the very core of our peace research, practice, and work. The long history of Nike-ian, Olympian friendly competition can teach us a lot about how to make creative conflict into a productive, future-focused force. 

From the time of the first Panathenaic Games, where victory crowns were made of wreaths of wild olive leaves, the Disc of Peace proclaimed the traditions of the Sacred Truce of Peace. Among these are the suspension of all hostilities, the declaration that the city where the Games are held be declared neutral and inviolable, and the agreement that all who wish to visit or partake in the Games be granted safe travel, even if traveling through territories at war. 

It’s fascinating to note that traditional Indigenous practices from one society often mirror those of others, even without direct contact. For example, the Greek rule against biting in competitions, intended to preserve the physical sovereignty of participants, closely resembles the West African Akan principle of “Obi-NKA-Bi” – “bite not one another,” an African tradition of peacebuilding and nonviolence. 

Find the full article here: https://council.science/blog/olympic-spirit-and-global-peace-insights-from-matt-meyer-keynote-address-at-unesco/

Paris Town Hall, 25 July 2024, Olympics Peace Forum with Alexandra de Navacelle-Coubertin (head of Pierre de Coubertin Association), Matt Meyer (IPRA), Marion Kiem (UNESCO Africa Chair), and Konstantinos Georgiadis (Dean, International Olympic Academy)