Jimmy Carter’s boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics can still provoke sharp arguments about the place of politics in sports, but the linking of the Summer Games with geopolitics is starting to happen again. Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson mentioned a threatened boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as possible leverage in getting China to pressure Sudan to change its behavior and allow UN peacekeepers in Darfur. The New Mexico governor, who tried to broker cease-fires earlier this year in the region, said at the Democrats debate Sunday night:
“If the Chinese don’t want to do this, we say to them, maybe we won’t go to the Olympics.” John Edwards was the only other candidate to overtly support the notion. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) said it goes too far. The majority of other candidates approve a no-fly zone patrolled by NATO or U.S. forces.

Carter’s boycott, it should be noted, followed the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and had little practical effect; the Soviets withdrew about a decade later worn out by jihadists. China, taking great pains to put on a memorable games, may react differently to such pressure, as this CFR Backgrounder discusses. The candidates’ increasingly wary views toward China are profiled in this CFR Election Issue Guide.