Because of China's crackdown on Tibetan dissidents, some are calling for a boycott of the Olympics and others are saying that engagement is a better policy.
I think the decision should rest with the individual athletes and not governments. A boycott by hundreds of athletes would have a greater impact than a boycott by one or several governments. What purpose was served by the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics?
Suppose the U.S. had boycotted the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Then Jesse Owen winning a gold medal would not give lie to Hitler's Aryan supremacy.
